Forever Destiny
by ElvenPrincess01
Summary: Kairi ends up in Spira mysteriously without her memories of her past life. However, when a certain spiky-haired boy finds and her tells her that they are close friends and she used to be a Keyblade wielder who traversed different worlds, fighting Heartless to bring peace, she realizes that recovering her memories will be the step to unlocking her potential and her true destiny.
1. Memory Blank

Full Summary: A young girl named Kairi ended up in the world of Spira mysteriously, without any memories of her former life. She befriends a trio of sphere hunters, remaining blissfully unaware of the past. However, when a certain spiky-haired boy suddenly arrives in the same world and says that they are close friends and she's part of a group of Keyblade wielders who travel to different worlds, fighting Heartless as part of their mission to bring peace to the worlds, she finds that recovering her lost memories will be the first step to unlocking her potential and realizing her true destiny. NOT KINGDOM HEARTS CANON.

Hellooooooooooooooooooooo people of the Fanfiction universe! What is happening?! Lol, sorry, I overdosed on some caffeine today *cough cough* I probably should stop drinking so much Mountain Dew…anyways, my name is ElvenPrincess01. This is my first story, so I'm a little nervous about how it will turn out, but I'm excited to be writing my very own fanfic.

I've had this idea for a story since late 2012, and I've been working on it since then. The idea I first started out with is VERY different from the final version. I reworked most of the entire plot, but the original idea is still here, Kairi losing her memories and stuff.

I was going to follow Kingdom Hearts canon, but I decided against that and did something (almost) entirely different. I also reworked the characterization for some of the characters too, especially Kairi. Kairi is very different from how I originally depicted. She was a little too…grim, hardened, and almost dark, not like a Princess of Heart. She was almost like Riku in a way. So I changed her character to be more bright and cheerful. I'm quite pleased with how she turned out :)

A certain someone was _supposed_ to be here to read the disclaimer…but I guess I'll just have to do that myself.

ElvenPrincess01 does **NOT** own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or Disney in any shape or form. And if she did, she wouldn't put all the games out on different systems. Because she doesn't have a Nintendo 3DS and she is dying to play Dream Drop Distance.

Enjoy!

xxxxx

**Prologue**

_No one knows where Kingdom Hearts came from, but it has been here for as long as anyone can remember, acting as the heart of all worlds. Since all hearts, save for the Princesses of Heart, contain light and darkness in them, Kingdom Hearts can give someone the power of light or the power of darkness, depending on the affinity in the person's heart. But the only way this can be done is through the X Blade, the first Keyblade in existence and the most powerful one. _

_Using the X Blade, the user can unleash the power of Kingdom Hearts, bringing peace and serenity, or chaos and destruction. In order to protect the peace, there have been seven Guardians of Kingdom Hearts who protect the X Blade and keep it safe using Keyblades, designed after the X Blade. When a Guardian reached old age, he or she would pick a successor and the successor would become a new Guardian in their place. This tradition continued for many generations…until one fateful day._

_Many years ago, one of the Guardians, hungry for power, betrayed the other Guardians and took the X Blade for himself, unleashing the power of darkness on the land. However, he unintentionally unleashed a new form of creatures, which seemed to come from the darkness he unleashed from Kingdom Hearts. These beings were later called Heartless. They quickly began destroying the world and traveled to other worlds to wreak havoc._

_The other Guardians banded together to stop their former teammate and managed to get the X Blade from him. After they had defeated him, they used the X Blade to bring light back to the world. Some of the light from Kingdom Hearts was transferred to the Guardians through the X Blade, purifying them of all darkness in their hearts, turning them into the first Princesses of Heart, maidens with hearts of pure light. But the damage was already done to the world Kingdom Hearts was located above, and once a beautiful and lush paradise, became savagely destroyed in the battle. _

_To prevent something like this from ever happening again, the Guardians made sure to hide the X Blade, someplace no one could find so that darkness wouldn't plague the world again. The Heartless that escaped to other worlds needed to be stopped, so the Guardians, and now Princesses of Heart, traveled to other lands, destroying Heartless and finding new Keyblade wielders to continue the cause. _

_The tradition of seven wielders protecting the X Blade was broken, but wielders bravely went to battle against the Heartless enemies. After the deaths of the original Princesses of Heart, there would be a new generation of maidens with pure hearts, though they never became Keyblade wielders. _

_The cycle continued throughout the years, and Keyblade wielders continued to fight the Heartless, seeking to bring peace back to the realms…_

**Chapter 1: Memory Blank**

Kairi POV

My name is Kairi. Don't bother asking me what my favorite memory is because I don't really have one. It's not because I'm depressed or anything like that. It's because I don't have any memories at all.

About a few weeks ago, I woke up in this world called Spira without being able to remember a thing. I couldn't remember anything, save my name. When I awoke, my body felt sore all over, like I was in a battle, and had taken one too many hits.

My head was pounding like a bell, and I couldn't remember how I had gotten where I was. Everything looked foreign to me. I didn't recognize my surroundings at all.

I was on what appeared to be an island, surrounded by tall palm trees and wooden huts and bordered by an body of water. The sun was starting its descent into the west, the sky a brilliant mix of reds, oranges, and yellows.

My body still ached all over, so I remained there on the boardwalk, waiting for the feeling to come back into my legs. While I was doing so, I was found by three girls around my age as they were passing by. Their names were Yuna, Rikku and Paine. They saw me on the ground and came over to ask me if I was alright.

After explaining my plight to them, they resolved to help me find my memories and get back to my old life, the life I couldn't remember. They thought that I must be from somewhere in Spira, so they suggested that I should travel around with them, in hopes that someone would recognize me. I've been with them ever since.

Yuna is a very adventurous and somewhat impulsive person, but very polite and ready to lend a hand. She was the one in the trio who found me first, and was the one to suggest that I come with her and the others. Her determination always shines through and she always stands tall in the face of danger, even if the odds are against her.

Rikku's happy-go-lucky and energetic, a bit of a chatterbox who isn't afraid to speak her mind, which is something I admire. She's the glue that holds everyone together. Rikku's also a very optimistic person and truly believes that I will be able to regain my lost memories; her belief is contagious.

And then there's Paine. Unlike Yuna and Rikku who exude cheeriness, Paine bears a tough exterior. She's the rational and level-headed one in the group, knocking the other two Gullwings (as they call themselves) back into reality when their ideas are out of this world. She doesn't do a lot of talking, but when she does, her sarcasm and bluntness are never far off.

However, despite all this, Paine has a caring and kind heart and truly cares for the people around her, even though she doesn't really show it. Cool, calm and collected. She kinda reminds me of someone, though I can't imagine why since I lost my memories and I never met anyone like her on Spira. Strange…

Yuna and Rikku are cousins and Paine is a good friend. All three of them are sphere hunters, traversing the wide and unique world of Spira looking for spheres. Spheres are items that serve a variety of purposes, depending on which ones you find. There are Dresspheres that allow the user to change accessories, Search spheres, which contain hidden treasure, and other kinds of spheres.

The most interesting ones I think are Movie Spheres, in which people can record images, sounds, and thoughts for later viewing. I think that's really cool.

Yuna, Rikku and Paine are looking for the Search spheres, the ones that contain hidden treasure. They're somewhat zealous for treasure and they want to find all the Search spheres they can.

Paine is more interested in the Movie Spheres, curious to learn more about the events that occurred on Spira. The trio has been in the sphere hunting business for a while, but they haven't been able to find many.

While looking for spheres one day, they were separated from their airship, the _Celsius,_ and the rest of their crew while locked in a battle with some LeBlanc Syndicate or something. They've been trying to find them ever with no luck. No sign has come up of them in the few weeks they've been separated.

But in the meantime, they're looking for spheres so that when they reunite with their friends and return to the ship, they'll be able to have them analyzed. Yuna and Rikku are fervently hoping for treasure in this one we're hunting down now.

We are in what is called Macalania Woods. It's a beautiful place, with thick, lush trees and a multitude of springs that litter the landscape. The whole place seems to glitter magically, and the fading rays of sunlight that seep through the trees illuminate the water.

But for all its beauty, the woods don't come without confusion. It's like a maze in here and how Yuna, who is leading the way, is able to find her way around is a mystery to me.

We pass by a pond and I stop to look at a giant, towering tree in the center of the pond, its thick foliage spread out in grand fashion. The trunk is as thick as steel. The roots must extend deep underground. It's a sight to see, a tree in the midst of a pool of water.

I'm startled out of my reverie by the sound of RIkku's ever-so-chipper voice. "Kairi! Come on!" I turn to my right to see her and the others up the path, waiting for me.

"Oh, sorry!" I say, having temporarily forgetting we're on a mission. I jog over to them, my sneakers treading over the soft dirt of the forest floor.

Rikku rubs her hands together as she smiles excitedly. "Oh, I hope it's treasure!" She giggles happily. A spring enters her step.

"Does it matter?" Paine says in a monotone voice. "We won't be able to figure out until we find the _Celsius_ and have Shinra analyze it." Yep, Paine is the voice of reason.

Rikku pouts at her. "Hey! Why do you have to ruin my fun? Couldn't you try to be a little more excited?"

"No," Paine says simply.

"Well I think you should—_oh_!" RIkku suddenly loses her step and goes tumbling into a thick area of foliage, disappearing behind it.

"Rikku!" We shout, quickly running over to where she vanished.

"Rikku! Can you hear us?" Yuna asks with worry and concern written all over her face.

It's a few worrisome seconds before Rikku responds. "Guys, I think we found it!"

I share looks with the others before Paine pushes back the vegetation to reveal a small cave, hidden behind the shrubbery. Rikku's standing in there, looking up at something. She points forward, gleeful. "Look! It's the sphere!"

We walk into the cave to see what Rikku is talking about. The cave is about the size of a large bedroom, so plenty of leg room. It's a good thing there's still light outside from the fading rays of the sun to shine some light into the place, because without it, we wouldn't able to see a thing. The only real thing I can see is the front of the cave, where there's a pedestal with a sphere perched on top.

"Wow," I say. "I guess it's a good thing you lost your step then, Rikku."

She grins wider as if she had planned it all along. "I guess it is, huh?"

I approach the sphere to get a better look at it. It's a blue, almost transparent orb, encircled in a thick gold band. There's a red jewel embedded in it.

Yuna steps up to the pedestal and picks the sphere up into her hands. She stares at it for a second before turning around to face us, raising the sphere up into the air in a victory pose.

"All right, guys, we got a sphere!" She beams.

I reciprocate her smile while Rikku jumps in the air, cheering.

"Looks like it's a Movie Sphere!" I see Paine crack a rare smile before glancing outside the cave door.

"It's going to be nighttime soon," she says. "We should get back to the camp before night hits."

"Right," Yuna agrees, and sticks the sphere into the tan leather pouch on the left side of her hip. "Let's go."

xxxxx

While I'm sleeping later that night, I have a dream.

I've been having some weird dreams lately. I can't remember where I was in this particular one, since I'm not very good at remembering the fine details of my dreams. But I was standing in the center of a horde of some weird-looking monsters, tall black things with antennas and yellow eyes, no pupils.

I think I was fighting them. I mean, I had some kind of weapon in my hand and I was slashing through them, like they were paper or something. They disappeared like ash upon contact with the mysterious weapon. I don't remember what the weapon looked like at all. And I have no idea what those black creatures were.

And that's not the only dream I've had. I've had a recurring dream for a while now.

Not much goes on in it but it's always the same. All I see is whiteness all around me, just a piercing white background. At the farthest point where I can see, I can see a blurry figure with their back facing me. I can't tell if it's a boy or a girl, but I can tell he is she is wearing black. And…I think they have what looks like brown hair.

I struggle to catch up with the person, but it seems the more I run, the farther they get from me. I try to open my mouth to call out to them, but then I realize I can't speak. I try to form words but nothing comes out, no matter how hard I try. This is when I wake up.

I sit up slowly up in my bed, trying to recollect my thoughts. The others are sleeping away in the tent. Rikku is snoring quietly. And she claims she doesn't snore. I smile a little.

Getting out of bed, the idea to visit a spring back in Macalania Woods just pops into my mind. It's an idea I decide to act upon.

I tread back into Macalania Woods under the nighttime sky, not too far inside, and sit by a spring. The place appears even more beautiful at night. A calm serenity drapes over the place, something that only a peaceful night outside can achieve.

I sit there for about ten minutes in quiet meditation. It's so quiet here that the silence puts me at ease. The moonlight shines upon the water and I gaze out at it, trying to relax my mind.

I can't make any sense of the dreams I've been having; the black creatures, the elusive figure. It's all a mystery to me. But I keep having the same dream over and over. So it must be important…right?

A cool breeze blows through the trees and I shiver. Unfortunately, my pink strapless mini-dress doesn't provide the best comfort for cold weather. I lament not having a jacket, and I have to rub my arms vigorously in an effort to stay warm.

I pull the black hood attached to my dress over my head. I heard somewhere that if your head was warm, the rest of your body would become warm too. Time to see if the rumors were true.

As I sit there shivering, I suddenly hear a rustle in the bushes behind me. I spin around, my eyes wide with fright.

"Who's there?!" I ask in fear.

_Oh man, I don't even have a weapon_, I think. _Great, just great, Kairi._

Desperately, I search around on the ground with a hand and my fingers find a medium-sized rock on the ground. I'm not sure how effective it's going to be if I am pitted against a monster like the ones Yuna, Rikku and Paine told me about, but I'm ready to give it my all. I wasn't going down without a fight.

There's another another rustle in the bushes again and…out comes Paine. I breathe a sigh of relief, my fingers releasing the rock back onto the ground. My rapidly thumping heart is still going even as my brain recognizes Paine.

"Hey," Paine speaks quietly. "Did I scare you?"

"A little bit," I lie. She nearly freaked me out. My heart's still going a mile a minute.

Paine slowly strides over to take a seat next to me on the ground. She stares out at the glistening spring with seriousness imprinted on her face. I wonder what she's thinking about.

"Couldn't sleep?" She finally asks.

I shake my head. "No. I keep having these strange dreams. I'm not sure what they're supposed to mean," I reveal to the silver-haired girl. I feel that the recurring dream I've been having must be important; after all, why would I keep having it? But I can'tthink of why.

Paine thinks it over for a minute. "Maybe it's your memories trying to come back to you."

"You think so?"

She shrugs. "Why not? I don't think your memories are completely gone. I think they're hidden deep somewhere and you just have to make them resurface." She looks at me. "Don't worry. They'll come back to you at the right time."

I smile to myself, inspired by Paine's words. Paine's been a really good friend to me these weeks, always acting as a beacon of support and wisdom. It seems that she had led a troubled life, but became stronger from her ordeals and gained a lot of knowledge from it. She really is an amazing person.

"You're right. Thanks," I say.

"Don't mention it. You wanna head back now?" She jerks her head back towards the camp.

"Yeah." I get up, smoothing out the wrinkles in my dress. As soon as the two of us get back to the camp, I go right back to sleep. I have no more dreams that night, falling into a dreamless slumber.

xxxxx

A couple days later, the four of us arrive at the Calm Lands. However, I think they should be renamed the Calm Plains, because that's all I see. Plains. Plains, plains, and more plains. It's just a bunch of grass with towering hills rising up out of the ground.

Off in the distance is a village. As we drift closer, I can see dozens of people milling about. There are also some Chocobos roaming around harmlessly, free from their pens I assume. One of the pecks at something in the grass.

I turn this way and that, marveling at everything I see. There's so much to take in. I've never been to this side of Spira before, and I'm curious to investigate it.

Yuna must have seen my face because she says to me," You can go have a look around. I just need to pick up some items and equipment."

"Really? Thanks!" I beam, appreciative of the chance to explore.

"Don't stray too far off," Rikku sings.

"I won't," I promise. "See you!" And with that, I'm on my way.

There's a lot to do around the village. I enjoy playing several different games around the tiny village, and I even get to ride a Chocobo. I was a little apprehensive at first since I never rode anything like one in my life, but the experience is breathtaking and thrilling. I laugh as we breeze over the ground at a brisk speed, the wind blowing through my hair. I feel like I'm on top of the world.

After playing a couple more games, I think I've had enough excitement for one day. I lie down away from the village, still close enough where I can hear the noise from inside the village. I know I told the others I wouldn't go far, but I can't help myself. They're nowhere in sight, so they must still be busy doing whatever it is we came here to do.

Laid spread-eagled on the ground, I close my eyes. The sun warms my face and my skin. I'm totally relaxed, living in a paradise. The only thing missing is the gentle sound of the waves lapping against the beach. A smile creeps onto my face. If only I could stay like this forever.

While I'm basking in the rays from the sun, I hear a sudden whooshing noise. Frowning, I sit up, and my eyes widen into saucer plates as a black, shimmering portal materializes roughly thirty yards away from me. Black tendrils shimmer all around the edges.

Out of the portal emerges what looks to be a large and round anthropomorphized cat, standing over six feet tall with black fur.

He's donned in blue and purple armor on top of a red, short-sleeved shirt. His pants are navy blue with purple lower leg garments and there were two large purple pouches on either side. Navy blue and white sneakers are on his feet and purple gloves are on his hands. There's an extremely large zipper going down the front of his outfit and stretching across to the back side of his pants.

Huffing like he's running out of breath, he runs to the side, not even noticing me. He's so intent on getting away from whatever he's trying to get away from that he fails to notice an auburn-haired girl nearby. I ogle at him before I see another figure emerge from the strange portal. He only takes a couple steps before he collapses to the ground onto his knees. The portal disappears a second later.

Seeing someone in need of help, I quickly get to my feet and scurry over to him. I tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear as I lean over him.

"Are you ok?" I enquire in concern. I'm not sure what exactly is supposed to be going on, especially with the other guy (or animal) that ran out earlier, but I can worry about that later.

The person remains on their knees, breathing deeply. "I'm fine. I just—"

He stops in the middle of what he was about to say when he looks up at my face, gawking noticeably.

"K-K-Kairi?!"

I gaze back at him in confusion. I don't recognize him at all. He appears to be about my age, with a somewhat lanky body, spiky chocolate-colored hair and bright, shining blue eyes.

He wears a black and silver overjacket and a baggy black jumpsuit. On his feet are large black and yellow shoes. There are black fingerless gloves on his hands and a silver crown necklace hangs from around his neck. Two large red pouches hang from both sides of his hips and yellow straps crisscross across his legs. Zippers cover his entire outfit, like he's got a zipper fetish. The outfit does look pretty cool though.

"Uh…" I start, unsure of what to say. His sudden utterance of my name catches me off guard. I'm very certain I'm never met him before. But he seems to be sure he knows me.

A wide grin shows up on his features and he's on his feet in a second, despite being out of breath just a moment ago.

"Kairi! I can't believe it's you! I've been looking for you forever!" He sounds as if a heavy burden has just been lifted from his shoulders.

"Uh…" I start again.

"The others and I have been looking all over the place for you. I was really worried about you. I thought something bad happened to you. But it turns out you're ok," he beams.

"Uh…Do I…know you?" I am beyond confused. Who is this guy?

He laughs. "Ha ha ha, that's funny, Kairi." He studies his surroundings. "But seriously, how'd you end up here? I've never been to this world before…"His forehead crinkles in confusion.

I stare back at him. "No seriously, who are you?"

The boy in question turns his attention back to me, a smile still on his face. "You can stop joking now, Kairi. I know it's you."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are. I've never seen you a day in my life."

"What…what are you talking about?" He seems slightly upset and baffled. The happiness slowly drains from his eyes.

I smile grimly at him. "I don't know who you are. Sorry."

"Come on, Kairi!" The boy pleads with an imploring look in his eyes. "Don't you remember me?"

I tilt my head at him, squinting as I try to get a better look at him. Nothing comes to mind. "…should I?"

"It's me! Sora! We're best friends, remember?"

xxxxx

And that's a wrap! Some things in the story played out differently than how I imagined them in the story, but I like how it turned out. Sora has appeared on the scene, but Kairi doesn't remember him at all. So he's going to be working on trying to get her to remember him.

But thanks for reading! Things are going to start picking up soon, so stick around for future updates. I really appreciative of anyone who might be reading this story. Like I said, it's my first fanfic, so I'm hoping for some feedback. It would be nice if you could leave a review, but I won't hold it over your heads if you don't.

As I said before, thanks so much for reading and subscribe for more—

Sora: Hey, am I late?

ElvenPrincess01: Sora? What are you doing here?! You were supposed to be here at the beginning of the story to give the disclaimer! *sighs*

Sora: Wait, where are we now?

ElvenPrincess01: We're at the end. I just gave the final words to the readers.

Sora: Ohhhh…So do I still get paid?

ElvenPrincess01: …

Sora: Sorry, I meant to be here earlier, but I got caught up in sword fighting with Riku, and well—

ElvenPrincess01: Show up next time on time, please?

Sora: *salutes* Sure thing, captain! Can I give the closing remarks?

ElvenPrincess01: Why not? You already missed your cue at the beginning.

Sora: OK! Thanks for reading, Fanfiction people! Please subscribe for more from ElvenPrincess01. She really would appreciate it! Stay tuned for more!

xxxxx


	2. Do You Remember The Times?

ElvenPrincess01: Wow, so I can't believe I got reviews for the story, and I can't believe that they're actually positive. I didn't think anyone would be reading my story. Thanks a lot you guys. You have no idea how happy you made me :)

Riku: Yes, ElvenPrincess01 would like to thank you for taking the time to read her story.

ElvenPrincess01: Oh, Riku, you're here. Where's Sora?

Riku: Eating sea-salt ice cream with Roxas.

ElvenPrincess01: *sighs* Typical. Then Riku, would you be so kind as to give the disclaimer for the story?

Riku: No problem. *clears throat* ElvenPrincess01 does not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or Disney in her possession. So please don't sue her. Otherwise I'd be out of a job.

ElvenPrincess01: Thank you very much, Riku. Now, on to the story!

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter_

_"__I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are. I've never seen you a day in my life." _

_"What…what are you talking about?" He seems slightly upset and baffled. The happiness slowly drains from his eyes. _

_I smile grimly at him. "I don't know who you are. Sorry."_

_"__Come on, Kairi!" The boy pleads with an imploring look in his eyes. "Don't you remember me?"_

_I tilt my head at him, squinting as I try to get a better look at him. Nothing comes to mind. "…should I?"_

_"__It's me! Sora! We're best friends, remember?"_

**Chapter 2: Do You Remember The Times?**

I stare blankly at the boy in front of me, not making any sense of the words he's speaking.

"W-w-what?" I probably sound a little stupid.

"Remember? We used to live on Destiny Islands. You washed up on the beach when we were just kids and you lived there ever since. And then about several months ago, King Mickey crash-landed on the islands with his Gummi ship and then—"

"Wait, whoa, whoa, WHOA!" I hold my hands out in front of me. The boy stops talking and looks at me expectantly. "You're not making _any_ sense right now. Who's King Mickey?"

The boy's jaw drops. "You mean...you don't remember anyone?" When he sees my nonplussed expression, he says, "Riku…? Yen Sid…? Oh come on, don't tell me you don't remember Riku! The three of us are best friends!"

I shake my head. "Sorry, but I don't remember any of that."

"We used to travel around to different worlds and defeat the Heartless there using our Keyblades. You, me, and Riku. Are you telling me that you don't remember _any_ of that?"

"The only thing I remember is _here_, in Spira. And what the heck is a Keyblade?"

The spiky-haired newcomer is shocked to say the least. "You forgot that much?"

"Listen," I begin, trying to calm him down, "I know I lost my memory. But there is _no_ way I traveled to different worlds and fought these…these…these _Heartless_ things you mentioned. I'm pretty sure I came from Spira. I never heard of any distant worlds, let alone traveling through them." I think about the portal he came through but tell myself that he probably came from somewhere else on the world. Yeah, that's it. It must be.

"But…we did!" The guy is desperate. "I have pictures of us together!"

I cross my arms over my chest, regarding him with skepticism. "And…where are these pictures? Can I see them?"

"Er…" He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "Well you see I…don't have them with me. I don't really carry them around with me like that."

"Uh-huh." I'm not impressed in the slightest. "Well if you don't have any proof, then I can't believe you."

He opens his mouth to say something when I hear Yuna's distant voice from behind me. "Kairi!" She calls out. "Kairi!"

I look over my shoulder to see Yuna at the entrance to the village. Shoot, I forgot that I wasn't supposed to stray too far away. "I'm coming!" I call back.

I face the boy again with an apologetic smile on my face. "I gotta go. I think you've got the wrong person." I start backing away. "But good luck with finding whoever you're looking for!" My footsteps increase in pace as I turn away and start to jog towards Yuna.

"Wait! Kairi!" I hear the guy call from behind me. Ignoring him, I jog faster, eager to put as much distance between me and him. I listen to see if he's following behind me. I don't hear a thing, which I'm grateful for. The last thing I need is having to explain to Yuna why there's a clearly confused boy chasing after me.

I run up to her, taking in some deep breaths from the near sprint I was just doing.

"Kairi, I told you not go too far," she chides, though she doesn't sound too upset. "What were you doing?"

"Oh, nothing," I lie as I grab her hand in mine. "Come on, I wanna go ride the chocobo again!" I grin, pulling a confused Yuna with me. I put all thoughts about the stranger in the back of my mind as I attempt to focus on having a good time.

xxxxx

"So why exactly did we buy bathing suits and where are we going?" I question the group at large.

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine are being mysteriously quiet about where they are leading me, which is a first for the talkative Rikku. We're currently roaming through the mountain trails of Mt. Gagazet.

Mt. Gagazet is a large, snow-capped peak with snow hanging off the sides of the mountain peaks and covering sections on the ground. Yet for some reason, I don't feel very cold, though I am a little chilly. Overall I'm feeling pretty comfortable wearing an outfit that was designed with no sleeves. I wonder to myself why it feels like that.

Rikku, who's walking in front of me, her long blonde braids bouncing behind her, looks at me over her shoulder. There's a sly grin on her face as she presses a finger to her lips. "Shhh...It's a secret," she whispers.

"We're going to the—"

"Paine!" Rikku exclaims, stomping her foot. "Don't ruin the surprise!" Paine just rolls her eyes but doesn't say anything else.

Yuna smiles back at me. "You'll see when we get there. But you're gonna _love_ it."

A few more minutes later we come across some stone pillars that rise into the sky. Several of them are on each side of the wide path we're heading down. At the end of path, I see a tall blue-haired figure standing by himself.

Yuna recognizes him, letting out a surprised gasp. "Kimahri!" She takes off at a brisk jog. The rest of us follow.

The figure slowly turns around to see who's calling him, and I get a good look at his face.

I've never seen anyone like him. He has yellow eyes and a face that resembles a lion, fierce and somewhat frightening. He actually looks just like a walking lion, with massive clawed hands, thick muscles, and a long tail curling behind him.

Long white hair falls down his back with a braid on each side, and a little white beard extends from his chin and the edges of his face. On his forehead is a broken white horn.

He's dressed like a tribal member, and holds a long lance that's taller than he is in one hand. He must be a high-ranking person in his community. He gives off an aura of authority and leadership.

"Yuna," he greets in a deep and gravelly voice. "And friends," he adds when he sees Rikku and Paine." His eyes rest on me next.

Maybe it's just me being paranoid, but it almost seems like his eyes narrow a bit when he sees me, as if he isn't exactly happy to meet me. Perhaps he doesn't take too kindly to strangers. His gaze seems to penetrate me, and I feel a little nervous. He's well over six feet tall so I already feel short, but when I'm right next to him with his gaze fixed directly on me, I feel even shorter. Part of me wants to run away and hide.

"Oh, this is Kairi," Yuna says. She must have noticed Kimahri's eyes riveted on me. I wonder if she picked up on the less-than-friendly expression. "She's a friend of ours. Kairi, this is Kimahri. He's the Elder of the Ronso Tribe. He protects the mountains around here."

"Mountain needs guarding from dangerous people. People trample sacred land of mountain. But Yuna and friends are fine. They can proceed." He's staring at me the whole time while he's speaking as if I'm one of the people guilty of trampling over the sacred lands of the mountain. But since I'm a friend of Yuna, there isn't much he can do about it, except give me the evil eye, which he's giving me plenty of.

"Thanks Kimahri," Yuna says. "I'll come back later to talk, ok?" And with that, we're back on our way to the mystery destination. I can't help but breathe a sigh of relief when from the blue-skinned elder is left behind us.

"You alright?" Yuna asks.

"Yeah. I just feel that Kimahri doesn't like me very much..." I admit.

Yuna giggles softly. " Kimahri isn't very friendly with strangers. He doesn't trust them. But he's actually a pretty nice and gentle guy once you get to know him." Considering the death glare he was giving me earlier, I don't think I'll ever get the chance to know him very well.

We climb through more mountain trails, passing by a glistening waterfall and caverns. In one of them, there are a couple of these weird-looking creatures that are shaped like balls. Each one has a giant red eye, sharp teeth, and a long tail. Wings protrude from out of their sides.

They fly around energetically on the side of the cavern opposite us. We carefully tip-toe our way past them, not seeking to fight any battles. Fortunately they never notice us.

After what feels like forever, we finally reach our destination. Yuna runs a bit ahead of us and stops in place. She whirls around to face us. "Ok, we're here!" She cheers.

I frown, glancing around. All I see is a mountain. "Er, where's here? I don't see anything that we haven't been seeing for a while now."

Yuna giggles again. "Silly, 'here' isn't up here. It's down _there_." She points to a wide hole behind her. I walk up to it and peer down into it, but I can't see much.

"You want me...to jump down there?" I'd like to consider myself an adventurous person. Sort of. But I was a little hesitant to jump down a hole that I couldn't even see into, even if a friend that I trust with my life was telling me to do so.

"It's not a long jump," Rikku tries to assure me, suddenly appearing next to me. "And you'll realize what's in it when you go down in there."

I'm still not all that convinced, but I decide to take a chance. The others wouldn't be asking me to jump into a hole if it wasn't alright. "Okay...If you say so." After taking a deep breath, and praying I don't break anything, I take a leap of faith and hop down the hole. I close my eyes, feeling lightless for a second before I fall into...water?

Opening my eyes, I find myself half-submerged in a pool of water. I gaze around and I receive the answer to the question I've been wondering about as to where Yuna, Rikku, and Paine were leading me. It was a hot springs. They led me to a hot springs.

_Well that explains the bathing suits,_ I think to myself. A smile creeps onto my face.

"Do you like the surprise?" Rikku shouts down the hole, her voice echoing against the cave walls.

"I love it," I reply, and splash my hands around in the water.

xxxxx

"Ahhh!" Rikku shrieks as I splash her with some water, snickering evilly as I do so. "Not the eyes!" She cowers, covering her face with her hands.

Paine sneaks up from behind her and splashes her from behind.

"Ahhh!" She shrieks again, twisting this way and that, trying to protect her body from the playful attack from both sides. "Help Yunie, I'm being attacked!" "Yunie" was Rikku's name for Yuna.

Yuna, off by herself at the edge of the hot springs, shrugs lazily. "I would, but I'm kind of comfortable over here." She reinforces her point by sinking lower into the water. She sighs in contentment. "_Ahhh_, that feels good..."

"Yunie!" I splash Rikku a few more times before I wade my way over to where the brunette is, resting next to her.

"Ahhh, that _does_ feel good," I agree. The hot water is doing wonders for my skin. My eyes flicker over to where Rikku and Paine have engaged themselves in a splash battle, attempting to outdo one another.

"Were you talking to someone when I came to find you earlier?" Yuna suddenly questions me, catching me by surprise. I didn't think she noticed what I was up to outside the village. "I couldn't really be sure since you pulled me away so quickly."

The out of the blue arrival of the spiky-haired boy and what he said enters into my mind. I had already forgotten about it even though it only happened a couple hours before. With the events since, like playing in the hot springs currently, I didn't think about it much. Until now.

I consider lying, but Yuna is my friend, and I don't want to betray her trust. Besides, she was already suspicious, so why hide the fact?

"I met someone who said that he knew me."

Yuna nearly falls over into the water, but just manages to catch herself. Her heterochromatic eyes bug out at me.

"What?!" She exclaims. Her sudden outburst catches the attention of our two other companions, who curiously glance our way for a moment.

"You're just telling me this _now_?" I can tell that Yuna is fighting to keep her voice even.

"Yes. He knew my name and told me things about a supposed past I used to have before I lost my memories."

"And?"

I glance at Yuna for a second. "And what? His claims are bogus. He says he knows me but can't produce any proof, like photos or something."

"But...this may be the key you're looking for! Someone who recognizes you. Isn't this what you wanted?"

I kick my legs out lazily in the water, creating small ripples in it. I stare down at them until they disappear. "He said I was from a different world that wasn't Spira. That makes zero sense. I mean, have you ever heard of travel between different worlds? Have you ever even _heard_ of there being other worlds out there?"

Yuna gazes down at the water in thought. "Well...now that you mention it...I haven't."

"Exactly! That guy was probably a stalker or something. I don't know how he got my name, but there was no way I was going back with him. He was probably just pretending to know me." I remember the swirling portal he appeared out of, opting not to tell Yuna about it. It might confuse her. Heck, it confused me.

Yuna sighs in frustration. "This sucks. Just when it seemed like you managed to get your memories back, it turns out it was a false lead." Disappointment is etched on her face.

"Guess I just have to keep searching, right?"

"Yeah...I wonder if you'll ever see that guy again," she says.

"Nah, I wouldn't count on it. I won't probably see him again."

xxxxx

Imagine my utter surprise when I run into him while poking around the mountain trails. The others are catching up with Kimahri where we found him. I didn't want the death glare on me again so I made up an excuse to the others about wanting to explore the mountain more. I wish I had went with them.

He gasps in excitement. "Kairi! I've been looking for you! Well I've been looking for Pete too, but mainly you."

I fight back the urge to roll my eyes and settle instead on letting out a sigh of annoyance.

"Haven't we already had this conversation before? I don't know who you are, but you need to leave me alone." I want to continue down the trail, but there isn't enough room for me to get around him. And I know he's not going to let me pass.

"Kairi, come on! We gotta get back to Master Yen Sid and the Mysterious Tower. We still have to take our Mark of Mastery exams. We were about to take ours before you disappeared and—"

"Yen Sid? Mark of Mastery?" The question mark above my head must be nearly visible. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Then maybe you'll remember this." The boy reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small object that fits into the palm of his hand. It looks like a flower, five-pointed thalassa shells stitched together by grey, X-shaped stitches. It's pale yellow towards the center and pale pink towards the tips.

I tilt my head at it curiously. "What is that?"

"It's your lucky charm. You gave it to me the day before we were to take the Mark of Mastery exam. You said that I needed it more than you did."

I barely hear the words that are being spoken right now. I'm too busy staring at the supposed lucky charm. It's actually quite pretty. But that isn't the reason I'm staring at it.

"Why...does that look so familiar?"

"Because it's yours. It's your lucky charm." A relieved smile lights up the boy's face. "You still remember something! I knew you couldn't have forgotten everything." He looks very pleased with himself.

I shake my head. "That doesn't prove anything. For all I know, it could be reminding me of something I saw here in Spira." Maybe I'm being stubborn, but I'm quite ready to concede yet. There's still a lack of any real evidence that I know this guy.

"I don't get it," Sora murmurs quietly, like he's talking to himself. He holds an arm out in front of him and a long object suddenly materializes into his hand in a sparkle of light. I nearly jump in surprise. It's a huge shock.

"Does this prove my point?" He inquires.

The thing he has in his hand resembles a sword, hilt and everything. The actual sword part is long and silver as most swords go, but this one's shaped like a key, with teeth on the very end shaped in the form of a crown.

A silver keychain hangs from the hilt with a mouse head on the end and the guard's bright gold. It's like a…key sword or something. I stare at the weapon in awe.

"This is Kingdom Key, my Keyblade."

Oh. Well I wasn't that far off from Keyblade.

"How..How'd you so that?" I marvel in fascination. My deep suspicion towards the boy quickly transforms itself into interest at this newfound ability.

He shrugs his shoulders. "Simple. I just hold my hand out and will it to come into my hand. You can do it too."

"Huh?" I tear my eyes from this marvelous weapon to stare at him. "What so you mean?"

"You can summon a Keyblade too. Just hold your hand out and summon it to yourself."

I stare blankly at him once again. The suspicion returns full strength. "_Yeah_...Oh, I think I can hear someone calling me," I lie in an attempt to get away from this weirdo. "I think I better be on my way. You should too."

The boy drops his arm back to his side and the weapon disappears in a flash of light, just like it appeared.

"Wait Kairi, you can't go yet. You still haven't summoned your Keyblade." He takes a step towards me.

I automatically take a step backward. "Look, it was nice talking to you, but I can't be associating with stalkers and what-not."

"Stalker? You think I'm a _stalker_?"

"You can't prove who you are or our relationship between us, yet you want me to come with you." I cross my arms resolutely over my chest. "Sounds pretty stalkerish if you ask me."

"Don't you remember the worlds we visited?" He draws closer to me, a frantic expression on his face. "Agrabah? Atlantica? Halloween Town? Don't you at _least_ remember Hollow Bastion? Leon and the others?

I take some more steps back as he rattles off places I've never heard of before. "I have to go. Please don't come near me again. Thanks," I add when I see him open his mouth to get another argument in. I turn sharply on my heel and power-walk as rapidly as I can without tripping over something.

I don't dare turn around until I'm a safe enough distance away. Once again, he doesn't follow in my flight. I see his retreating figure. His shoulders are slumped over a little.

Staring at his back somehow makes that recurring dream appear in my mind. My heart skips a beat as I think about something.

The figure in my dream was dressed in all black and had brown hair. This dude is dressed in all black and has brown spiky hair. Seeing him walk away from me almost suggests that the figure walking away in my dream was...

No. _No way_. Does that mean...that the figure from the dream I keep having...is _him_? Is it a past memory that's struggling to rise to the surface of my consciousness? Does that mean...what the boy said...Does that mean that all of it was true? Do I really know him? For real?

I still gape after him even after he vanishes completely out of sight. So many thoughts are racing through my head that I feel that I need to sit down and take it all in. I'm actually starting to feel slightly nauseous.

I retrace my steps back up the trail, desiring very much to meet back up with the rest of the group. I'm so lost in thought that I'm not exactly looking where I'm going and I end up bumping into someone. I bounce off them and tumble gracelessly to the ground.

"Ow," I moan. I rub my aching butt. I'm shocked when I see who it was I bumped into.

"Eh?" The large, hulking figure whirls around, his eyebrows creasing for a second before he sees me down on the ground.

It's the giant cat dude that came out of that gateway the boy followed him through. He's just as astonished to see me as I am to see him.

"It's you!" His eyes turn in angry slits. "Hmm...You can't be with that stupid brat since he was all alone when he followed me through that Corridor of Darkness." He chuckles sinisterly. "Which means you're all alone. I still owe you for ruining Maleficent's plans previously." There's an evil glint in his eyes which puts me at unease. I scoot away from him.

"I...I don't know who you are. Or this Maleficent person," I say truthfully.

Cat Dude chuckles again. "Nice try, but the memory loss trick isn't going to work on me. I'm the mighty Pete! I'm going to help Maleficent conquer all the worlds with her Heartless army! And I'll show you why." He lifts his head up. "Heartless squad!" He shouts, scaring me a bit. "Round up!" I'm even more scared when I see what the Heartless squad is.

Several little black creatures barely three feet tall with yellow eyes and antennae sticking out of their heads materialize all of a sudden out of puffs of darkness next to Cat Dude. They twist this way and that on the spot, restless and unable to stand still for even a second.

They're small, but I've never seen creatures like that in Spira. Frightened, I scoot away faster, trying to get as far away from them as I can.

Cat Dude levels a finger at me. His goofy-looking face stretches out into a wicked grin.

"Get her," he commands his squad.

xxxxx

ElvenPrincess01: So yes, Kairi is coming to terms about her lost memories. What's going to happen to her in the next chapter? You'll just have to wait and find out.

ElvenPrincess01: I've planned out the next couple chapters of the story, so the updates will come relatively quicker. I don't think you'll have to wait as long for the next chapter as you waited for this chapter. I am working on another story on another site, but I'm balancing my time on both stories. I quit my job a couple days ago so I'll be able to devote more time for this story.

Sora: Am I late again?

ElvenPrincess01: ...

Riku : …

ElvenPrincess01: Riku already did the disclaimer at the beginning of the story, Sora. Yes, you're late.

Sora: Ohhhh. Sorry. I guess I lost track of time sitting on top of the clock tower in Twilight Town eating ice cream with Roxas.

ElvenPrincess01: You were on a clock tower! How'd you lose track of time?

Sora: …

ElvenPrincess01: *sighs* Just show up on time next chapter. Otherwise, you're fired.

Sora: *gasps* No, you can't! I need this job. Fighting Heartless isn't a paying job, you know.

ElvenPrincess01: Then make an effort to be punctual.

Sora: Don't worry, I won't disappoint!

ElvenPrincess01: Readers, thanks for reading!

Riku: Feel free to leave a review and subscribe to the story.

Sora: And stay tuned for more! Bye!

xxxxx


	3. I Want To Line The Pieces Up

ElvenPrincess01: Yo, ElvenPrincess01 here! What's up? What's going down?

Sora: Wow, ElvenPrincess01, I didn't know you could talk like that.

ElvenPrincess01: Why yes, I…Wait a minute…Sora? You're actually here? On time?

Sora: I have my moments! Plus you threatened my job so I figured I should get my act together.

Riku: I made sure that he got here on time.

ElvenPrincess01: Thank you, Riku. It's nice to have a responsible person around here.

Sora: Hey!

ElvenPrincess01: Boys, you know the drill.

Riku: Right. ElvenPrincess01 does not own anything Kingdom Hearts-related.

Sora: Or Disney-related or Final Fantasy-related.

ElvenPrincess01: Onto the story! *points finger dramatically*

Riku: Er, what are you pointing at?

ElvenPrincess01: I'm…not entirely sure. I just wanted to be dramatic.

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter _

_Cat Dude chuckles again. "Nice try, but the memory loss trick isn't going to work on me. I'm the mighty Pete! I'm going to help Maleficent conquer all the worlds with her Heartless army! And I'll show you why." He lifts his head up. "Heartless squad!" He shouts, scaring me a bit. "Round up!" I'm even more scared when I see what the Heartless squad is._

_Several little black creatures barely three feet tall with yellow eyes and antennae sticking out of their heads materialize all of a sudden out of puffs of darkness next to Cat Dude. They twist this way and that on the spot, restless and unable to stand still for even a second. _

_They're small, but I've never seen creatures like that in Spira. Frightened, I scoot away faster, trying to get as far away from them as I can._

_Cat Dude levels a finger at me. His goofy-looking face stretches out into a wicked grin._

_"Get her," he commands his squad._

**Chapter 3: I Want To Line The Pieces Up…Yours and Mine**

The strange creatures set their yellow eyes on me, and my heart goes down into my stomach as they advance towards me.

"N-n-no!" Terrified, I scream, backtracking as quickly as possible. But there's no one around to hear my screams of terror. The others are too faraway to hear me. Cat Dude throws his head back, laughing evilly.

The creatures slink closer to me. I'm not sure what these creatures can do to me, but I have no wish to figure out.

A figure easily leaps onto the mountain side behind Pete and vaults across like a ninja, dropping down in front of me. The creatures cease moving forward as the individual lands between them and their target.

"Huh?" Cat Dude and I utter in surprise.

It's then that I notice my savior is Paine. She quickly gets down into a battle stance, her sword drawn and ready. It's long and thick and colored black with a thin slice of silver at the edge.

"Paine! You're here!" Words cannot explain how thankful I am to her now. She saved me.

Her back faces me so I can't see her face but it looks like her eyes are focused on Cat Dude. He's scowling at her.

"I thought I saw someone prowling the trails around here, someone who definitely wasn't from the Ronso Tribe. So I followed him here. Looks like I got here just in time." Paine speaks louder. "Hey dude," she almost shouts to the stranger, "you attack my friend, you gotta go through me. You got it?"

I know from experience that Paine's not someone you want to mess with. There's nothing but fearlessness in her voice. She's ready for anything.

Unfortunately for him, Cat Dude doesn't get the memo. He growls and his eyes narrow. "Heartless squad! Attack!" He points a finger at Paine now.

The creatures launch themselves at Paine and she lunges forward. She moves like a pro, slashing through the foes like they're paper. They disappear into puffs of darkness, much like they came, no match for her. Their weak attacks do nothing to deter her. She whirls around, defeating all the enemies in a matter of seconds.

Cat Dude's not happy at all, to say the least. "You…" He struggles to finish the rest of his sentence due to his growing anger. His enormous body trembles all over. "You're going to pay for that!" He shakes his fist in the air angrily. "No one messes with the mighty Pete!" He stomps his feet like he's planning on becoming Paine's next foe.

She remains unimpressed. "Bring it on," she says simply.

"Don't leave us out!" I hear a voice from behind Cat Dude. Yuna and Rikku jump across the mountain side much like Paine did and land in front of me, right next to Paine.

"Yuna! Rikku!" I exclaim. I didn't expect to see them.

"More brats?" Cat Dude wonders aloud.

Yuna seizes her guns out of her holsters and points them at Cat Dude. She fires a shot as his foot. He cries out, jumping. "That's for attacking our friend." She fires another shot at his other foot. He cries out again. "That's for tainting the sacredness of Mt. Gagazet." She fires yet another shot. Again, he cries out. "And that's for just being ugly," she smirks.

Once Cat Dude recovers and composes himself, and makes sure that Yuna isn't going to fire any more bullets at him, he growls indignantly. I think he's going to charge at her, but he doesn't.

He eyes study Paine and Rikku quickly; he probably isn't looking to take on three skilled opponents. Instead, he just points a finger at them.

"You're going to pay for this! You haven't seen the last of me!" And he scurries away.

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine relax their battle stances. "And stay out!" Rikku calls after him.

Paine is next to me a second later. "You ok?" She outstretches a hand towards me.

I grab it and Paine helps me to my feet. "Yeah, he just took me by surprise. Thanks for the help." She just smiles a little in reply.

"I wonder who he was," Yuna wonders as she sticks her guns back in her holsters. "I've never seen anyone like him before on Spira. And I've been to a lot of places."

I'm instantly taken back to what happened earlier today, when Cat Dude emerged from the dark portal. I still decide not to let the others know that this wasn't my first time seeing him. Then I'll have to explain the portal, and I still don't know what it was. And it isn't like much happened the first time I saw him. I only saw him for a few seconds. I have other things to worry about.

xxxxx

Later that night, while the fading rays of sunlight fall across the land and imminent nightfall approaches, I sit by myself with the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth in the distance.

The others are somewhere else in the village. I told them I was going to play some more games, but really I had gone to do some thinking by myself.

My mind is spinning as I recollect the events from today. First, there was the cat guy that emerged from the swirling portal, followed closely by the Sora boy. Cue him telling me about a past I used to have with him and me refusing to listen.

Then I ran into him later and he told me more stuff and demonstrated summoning his Keyblade but he still didn't convince me. I recalled the recurring dream I had been having about a mysterious person that I can only see the back of, and all the clues match up with him. And then there was the encounter with Cat Dude.

That makes two people who appear to know me. It can't be a coincidence. And they both knew each other, so there was a connection between the three of us. And what Cat Dude said got me thinking.

He said that Sora had followed him through a "Corridor of Darkness." Was he referring to that dark gateway that he had come out from? And corridors were ways of getting to places, like hallways. And Sora talked about other worlds. If that was the case, if there were other worlds out there, were these "Corridors of Darkness" used to get to them?

Sora talked about traveling to different worlds and fighting some things called "Heartless." And Cat Dude summoned a Heartless squad. That meant that Sora was right about the existence of Heartless. I had seen them for myself. It wasn't an illusion or a trick.

I hold my head in my hands as the information sinks into my brain.

_What is going on?!_

This whole time I thought I was originally from Spira, and it turns out I'm not. I'm from…What was the name of that place Sora mentioned? It's amazing how quickly I go from calling him 'that boy' or 'that guy' or something else along those lines to his real name.

_Destiny Islands_. That's what it was. Most likely a tropical place. No wonder I liked playing in the hot springs so much. I probably played in the water a lot on the Islands.

So…what does that mean now? I put most of the pieces of the puzzle together. Was there one last thing that I needed to know to get all the proof I wanted?

_"You can summon a Keyblade too. Just hold your hand out and summon it to you."_ Sora's voice rings in my head clear as a bell.

Was that it? Was that what I needed to do? Test it out myself?

I slowly stretch out my arm in front of me, tentatively, almost like I'm expecting my hand to burst into flames or something. I don't know why I'm so nervous. Maybe because if I do manage to summon a Keyblade, it means that my life will be changed forever, and not in the way that I expected.

When my arm is completely extended in front of me, I stare at my hand and concentrate.

_Ok Kairi…Just concentrate...visualize…and…_

For a few seconds, nothing happens, and then I think I got it all wrong. But then there's a flash of light and something appears in my hand, startling me greatly.

There's a Keyblade in my hands. At least I think it's a Keyblade. It doesn't look much like Sora's. It doesn't even look harmful.

One side of the hilt is formed in the shape of a breaking ocean wave, while the other forms a beige vine of sand that wraps around the shaft, colored a deep shade of orange, like sunset. The vine connects to a bouquet of flowers, pink, purple and yellow, which make up the teeth of the weapon.

Looking closely, I see that the flowers entwine to make a heart. A red silken keychain connects the hilt to a yellow and orange star-shaped object that I don't recognize.

The whole thing is really pretty, but…

I fought the forces of evil…using this?

It doesn't look like much of a weapon. But if it worked before, then I guess I shouldn't be questioning it.

I flip it over, examining it for a minute. Then I rise to my feet and swing it around a few times. It actually feels kind of great. The Keyblade is nearly lightless in my hand as I swipe it through the air.

"Ok," I breathe. "Now I'm a believer."

I suddenly hear muted noises of what sounds like a fight coming from the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. My head perks up at the sound.

"Back off!" I hear someone say.

_That's Sora's voice. And…it sounds like he's in trouble!_

I don't know what happened. I don't even remember thinking about it. But as soon as I recognize Sora's voice, I find my feet carrying me towards the cavern, without a second to lose.

_Wait a minute, _I say to myself as I press towards my destination. _Am I really going in there to fight when I just learned how to summon a Keyblade?_

It's not like I have much of a choice. Sora needs help. And I still owe him for earlier when I brushed him off. Twice actually. And called him a stalker and a weirdo. I really need to apologize for that.

I bound into the cavern to see Sora on the other side against the wall. He's on his knees, his Keyblade at his side on the ground next to him. He's taking in deep breaths. Cat Dude is in front of him, his back towards me with some of those Heartless creatures he summoned before next to him.

He throws his head back, laughing menacingly. "Ha ha ha! Sorry kid, but you're a few years too early to be taking on me!" Sora glares daggers at him.

"Well then, why don't you take on me?" I say before I can stop myself. _Way to throw yourself in there, Kairi._

"What?" Cat Dude whirls around to lay his eyes on me.

I think Sora is the most surprised to see me. "Kairi?" His shocked expression then changes into relief. "Kairi!"

Cat Dude's eyes narrow into slits. A low growl emits from his throat. "It's you again," he spits. "I still owe you from last time."

"Isn't that what you said last time?" I smirk. I don't know where this confidence boost came from but I kind of like it.

"You—"His face becomes furious and he begins stomping on the ground angrily, grunting as he does so.

"Heartless! Attack!" He points his finger at me like last time.

Taking a deep breath, I charge forward. I still don't know where the surge of confidence came from, but I suddenly feel like I can do anything. Like take out these creatures.

When the first Heartless creature rushes at me, I emulate what I've seen Paine do and swing my Keyblade to the side, destroying it. I move about, slashing my Keyblade through each enemy. I'm amazed at how easy it is.

I've held Paine's weapon a couple times, but just to hold it. I've never swung it around or anything. So it's not like I have a whole lot of experience with swords. But as I swing my Keyblade around, the motions feel natural to me. As if I had been doing this for a long time. I think even Paine would be impressed with how I was performing.

When it's down to the last two Heartless, they jump into the air at me. I tense and leap into the air too, higher than I would have thought possible. I do a spinning slash move where I hang my Keyblade out and spin around, hitting both Heartless in one strike. I lightly land back on my feet and jump into a battle stance, ready if Cat Dude wanted some next.

He stares in disbelief at me before snarling. I'm beginning to suspect this guy has some problems controlling his anger. "You just wait!" He cries out. "Nobody, and I mean _nobody_, messes with the mighty Pete!"

"Well then, _mighty_ Pete, how about you take the both of us on?" Sora asks tauntingly. He has risen to his feet by now and swiftly races over to where I am standing, getting into a defensive stance next to me.

Cat Dude growls. "I'm getting out of this world! I'll handle you pipsqueaks later!" And a tall, swirling portal of darkness appears behind him. Throwing us one last furious glare, he darts into it and it disappears behind him as he makes his exit. Talk about cowardly.

Sora and I relax our battle stances. He faces me, his face alight. "Kairi! You remember now!"

I smile a little. "Actually...I don't." I gaze down at the Keyblade in my hand and turn it over. "But I was able to summon this, so…I guess, you were telling the truth the whole time after all." My eyes meet his. "I'm sorry."

Sora shakes his head, surprisingly in a good mood. "Don't be. I knew you come around." A thoughtful look surfaces onto his face. "But now, we have to get your memories back...I'm sure Yen Sid will know what to do once we get back to the Tower."

"Wait." I hold up a hand. Sora looks at me curiously. "Before we do that, there's something I need to do before we leave."

"What is it?"

xxxxx

"...so I used the Keyblade to defeat the Heartless and drive Cat Dude away."

I exhale after I finish telling Yuna, Rikku and Paine what happened since we left Macalania Woods, up to the point where I defeated Cat Dude just now. I also told them the information Sora had supplanted me earlier, mainly about the Keyblade and its mysterious workings.

They gawk at me when I'm done telling the story. Yuna breaks the silence seconds later. "Oh my gosh," she breathes.

"You said it," Rikku says.

Paine doesn't say a word. She just stares at me with slightly widened eyes. She doesn't show emotion a lot, and when she does, it's subtle.

"I can't believe it." Yuna shakes her head. "This whole time, you were from a different world. And not just that, you traveled to _other_ worlds. And fought against the forces of evil…That's incredible."

"Tell me about it," I say. I'm still in shock myself, though most of it had already worn off. Still...

Yuna stands up from where she was sitting on the ground. "So where is this mysterious guy?" Her eyes start to search the immediate area.

"Oh, you mean Sora?" I left him alone so I could go talk to Yuna and the others. I look around the area, trying to find someone with brown spiky hair. I spot him talking to a village vendor. What they're talking about, I don't know, but they appear to be in a casual conversation.

"He's over there." I point. Yuna looks him up and down, appraisal in her heterochromatic eyes.

"Hmm-_hmm_." A sly smirk slowly creeps onto her face and she nudges me playfully. "You know, he's kind of cute," she teases.

"What?"

"Don't you think?"

I examine Sora's face thoughtfully. I never really noticed until now, but he isn't too bad on the eyes. And he does have a pretty nice smile...

I quickly shake my head to remove the thoughts about Sora out of my head.

I shrug my shoulders. "I guess he's alright, I suppose."

I notice Rikku staring rather intently at him. Her expression is unreadable, but it's definitely not friendly. It almost reminds me of the way Kimahri stared at me when we first met. "I wanna go talk to him," she unexpectedly declares.

"What?" I wasn't expecting her sudden demand. The way she said it she's acting like he's a criminal.

She starts towards him, suspicion evident in her eyes. "I need to make sure he's ok to go with," she says as she strides her way over.

"Wait, Rikku!" I chase after her.

Sora swivels his head towards us we approach him. Rikku stalks towards him with purpose in each step. I scamper behind her.

"Hey. Sora, right?" Rikku asks in a blunt tone with her arms over her chest. She peers at Sora, but in a more curious manner than in a rude.

"Yeah," he answers, confused by the burning suspicion in Rikku's voice. "And you're...?"

"My name's Rikku."

"Really? My best friend is named Riku."

Rikku is astonished. "No way. Is she the same age as you?"

"Uh...Riku's a dude..."

Rikku tilts her head. "Wait, how does he spell his name?"

"R-I-K-U."

"Ohhhh. Mine is spelled R-I-K-K-U. Eh, it was close." In an instant, she's back into interrogative mode.

"Anyways, I came over here to check you out." She scrutinizes the poor boy, though in a different way than how Yuna did earlier. It's similar to the way a man might inspect a boy that comes over to his house to take his daughter out on a date.

Sora gives me an inquiring look. I shrug back as if to say, _What can you do?_ Rikku is many things, but subtle is definitely not one of them.

"Okay," she says when she's done with her appraisal. "You pass inspection." She stares hard into Sora's eyes. "I permit Kairi to go back with you."

"Uh...thanks?" Sora doesn't seem to know how to respond to that. I wonder what would have happened if Sora didn't pass Rikku's inspection. I guess not let me go with him. But then how would I get my memories back?

Yuna and Paine stroll over to us casually.

"I guess this is it, huh?" Paine has her arms over her chest in her usual fashion. I can tell she's trying to remain passive and unemotional like she always does but I can detect a faint hint of sadness on her face and in her voice.

I give her a little smile. "Yeah, I guess it is." I look around at her, Yuna and Rikku. "Thanks guys, for everything. I don't know what I would have done without you. I'm glad that you found me and I'm glad for the memories we had together. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world."

"Awww," Rikku coos, a wide grin on her face. "Group hug!" She opens her arms wide and engulfs Paine, Yuna, and me in a big hug.

"Ugh," Paine grunts. "I don't do group hugs."

"Too bad. Suck it up, Paine," Rikku responds as she tightens her hold on us, most likely to prevent Paine from breaking loose. "Kairi's going away. Deal with it." Even though I can't see Paine's face, I bet she's rolling her eyes.

When we break apart, Yuna gives me a hug of her own, a big smile on her face as well. "If you ever need anything, just find us. We'll be ready to lend a hand. You're an honorary Gullwing now."

"Thanks," I reply, grateful for the title. "I hope you guys find your ship and reunite with the rest of your friends."

"We will. I know you'll find your memories. Be careful out there, ok?"

"Don't worry, I will," I assure her.

"Well...bye," she says, her eyes filled with sadness. They start to mist up.

It's a bittersweet moment. After I lost my memories, these guys have been the only people I knew. I hate having to leave them behind, but now that I'm on the path to finding out my true past, I can't turn away from it. I have to go for it. It doesn't make this goodbye any less heartbreaking though.

"Goodbye guys," I say to the group at large. "Thanks for everything."

Paine smiles at me and her eyes drift up towards the sky. "It's getting late. We should be getting inside." Paine isn't very good at this saying goodbye thing.

"Ok." Rikku beams at me. "Bye Kairi! Hope to see you soon! Bye Sora!" She adds.

He reciprocates the smile graciously. "Bye Rikku!" He's already over the inspection he experienced before.

After we finish our endless goodbyes (and after another group hug courtesy of Rikku), the girls depart, leaving me staring at their backs until I can't see them anymore. My heart sinks a little but I try to keep positive. I'll see them again.

I now face Sora, who has been patiently waiting while we were having our final moments together as a team. "Ok, we can go now." No sooner than the words leave my lips, I realize something. Something very important.

"Um, how are we getting off this world?"

Sora opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. Realization dawns on him too, if the look in his eyes is any clue.

"Uhhh..."

I heave a sigh. "Oh dear..." And here I thought it was going to be smooth sailing from here on out. I'd assumed Sora had a way off this place.

He closes his mouth, thinking now. "Let's see...How I got here..." He snaps his fingers. "Oh! I followed Pete through that Corridor of Darkness."

"So can you summon this Corridor and get us out of here?"

Sora gapes at me. "Are you crazy? I can't summon Corridors of Darkness It's why they're called Corridors of Darkness! You have to be capable of controlling darkness to use them, which is an ability I don't have. Besides, they're dangerous to go through."

I furrow my eyebrows at him. "Then why did you go through one?"

He scratches his head sheepishly. "Uh, well, I was being a little reckless. I forgot how dangerous Corridors can be. But the darkness doesn't have that much of an effect on me since I have a strong heart. I was just running so hard after Pete that my body couldn't take any more. Still, you shouldn't use Corridors too often. They can stain your heart with darkness eventually if you use them often enough."

"That…doesn't sound too good…"

"But if I hadn't gone through it, I never would have found you, so I guess it all worked out."

"Yes...but we're still stuck here," I state. It's almost funny seeing how quickly Sora's expressions change.

"Ohhh...right..." He shifts weight onto his other leg, wincing as he does so.

"Ow." He shifts the weight back to the other leg. "Hmm...I guess that fight earlier took too much from me. "You wouldn't happen to have any potions or elixirs on you, would you?"

"Potions?" I know Yuna and the others carry them but I certainly don't. I have no use for them.

"Sorry, I don't have any."

Sora pouts. "None? You usually keep them in your pouch." His eyes fall on it. "What's in there?"

I glance down at my pouch. "I don't really stick anything in here," I answer as I open it up and remove the contents. There's some tissue, two tiny bottles of water (still cold somehow), and a small, blue star-shaped crystal with a ring of green around the center and a green star in the center. A green, jagged lightning bolt emerges from the side.

I saw it in there a while ago but I never took it out, forgetting about it quickly. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. I have absolutely no idea where it came from, but it's been in my pouch since I woke up without my memories.

The object is clearly familiar to Sora. "Is that…King Mickey's Star Shard?"

"What? You mean this thing?"

Sora snaps his fingers. "Of _course_! It all makes sense now!" He looks as if he has just solved some big mystery. "_That's_ how you ended up here. You used the King's Star Shard to come here, and one way another, lost your memories in the world. I was wondering how you ended up here. This totally explains it."

I examine the blue object in my hand. Who knew this tiny little object would play such a huge role in my life? "You think that's what happened?"

"I can't think of anything else."

"Can we use this Star Shard thingy to get back then?" I'm not entirely sure how this tiny little thing can be used as a transportation device, but if it gets us where we need to go, then I'm all for it.

"Yeah. I know how to work it," Sora tells me, and takes the Shard from me.

He holds it up and turns it over a couple times. His forehead crinkles. "Now...how do you work this thing again?" He mutters under his breath.

I shoot him an amused look. "I thought you said you knew how to use it."

"I do, I do! It's just, I never really used this thing before. The King just told me how to work it," he says quickly. "It was a while ago though so cut me some slack."

Sora turns the Star Shard over again. My faith in his abilities is starting to waver a bit. "Ok, so what I think you're supposed to do is imagine the place you want to go to in your mind and say the name of the place out loud. You don't remember what the Mysterious Tower looks like so you can't do that part. I'll have to do it for you." Sora explains. "Just hold on to the Shard too and you'll be transported with me." I hold my hand out and touch the object.

Sounds simple enough. "Ready when you are."

"Ok then." Sora clears his throat. "Mysterious Tower," he speaks in a loud and clear voice.

Numerous splinters of light shoot out from the crystal and a bright light envelops us. I scrunch my eyes close, temporarily blinded by the dazzling light. A second later, my body feels lightless as if I'm floating through air, and then not even a full second later, my feet are resting on the ground.

I slowly open my eyes to see a brand new landscape. Sora and I are definitely not in Spira anymore.

The top half of the sky is a dark color, but beneath that is a mix of dark orange and yellow. Dozens of stars gleam in the strange-looking sky. Large yellow hills appear to be floating in the orange part of the sky. The place that Sora and I have arrived at is some kind of floating island. Giant shrubbery litters the ground, and frames the pathway to what I assume to be the Mysterious Tower.

The Tower is bent and crooked, but it looks like it was fashioned that way on purpose. It's golden-brown with blue cone-shaped turret roofs, and is decorated with images of moons and stars. It looms into the sky, forcing me to bend my head back to get a good look at it.

"Aww!" Sora groans from next to me. "I wanted it to take us _inside _the Tower. Now we have to walk up all those stairs…I guess I didn't use it properly."

But I don't care about the staircase right now. As Sora complains some more, I twist around on the spot, taking this surrealistic place in. I notice a glowing, blue, ethereal railway next to the island, hovering over the orange sea. I want to know where it starts, since there doesn't really appear to be any other ways of reaching this place besides the Star Shard.

Sora must have seen me staring at everything because he speaks up from behind me, "Yeah, it's a lot to take in. I did the same thing when I first got here."

I point a finger at the railway. "Where does that railway come from?"

"The railway? Well another way to get here is to take a special train out of Twilight Town."

"Twilight Town..." I murmur the words to myself. "Sounds like a pretty interesting place."

"It is. We should go there once we get a chance later. Come on, I'll take you to Master Yen Sid. He's a really powerful sorcerer. He'll be able to get your memories back."

xxxxx

ElvenPrincess01: Hmm…I don't really have anything to say here.

Sora: I do! How come you made me lose to Pete? I totally could have taken him on!

ElvenPrincess01: *rolls eyes* It was for the story. And you didn't lose to Pete, you lost to his Heartless. Deal with it. I can always kill you off, you know.

Sora: *gasps* You can't do that! I'm too important to the storyline! You told me that.

ElvenPrincess01: I can always switch things up.

Sora: *gasps*

ElvenPrincess01: I'm just kidding, I won't kill you off. I like you too much. Plus I'll have to rework some of the plot points which I don't feel like doing.

Sora: *sighs in relief* Oh, thank you.

ElvenPrincess01: Thanks for reading! Please subscribe and leave a review! Till next time!

xxxxx


	4. It's Not Easy Being A Princess

ElvenPrincess01: Hello everybody! I may have said the next few chapters would becoming relatively quick since I had them planned out, but I decided to switch things up a bit and push some stuff back. The chapter didn't come as quick as I initially planned since I was working on another story, but a couple weeks isn't bad, right?

Kairi: ElvenPrincess01 has a lot of free time on her hands since she just recently quit her job.

ElvenPrincess01: *gasps* Kairi, you here!

Kairi: Well I am the main character in the story after all.

ElvenPrincess01: And I see Sora isn't…I'm surprised to see Riku isn't here. Where is he?

Kairi: I dunno. I haven't seen him in a while. He could be with Sora.

ElvenPrincess01: I'll look for those two later. Would you care to do the honors?

Kairi: Of course! ElvenPrincess01 does not own any of the franchises used in the story. Enjoy!

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter_

"_Aww!" Sora groans from next to me. "I wanted it to take us inside the Tower. Now we have to walk up all those stairs…I guess I didn't use it properly."_

_But I don't care about the staircase right now. As Sora complains some more, I twist around on the spot, taking this surrealistic place in. I notice a glowing, blue, ethereal railway next to the island, hovering over the orange sea. I want to know where it starts, since there doesn't really appear to be any other ways of reaching this place besides the Star Shard._

_Sora must have seen me staring at everything because he speaks up from behind me, "Yeah, it's a lot to take in. I did the same thing when I first got here."_

_I point a finger at the railway. "Where does that railway come from?"_

_"The railway? Well another way to get here is to take a special train out of Twilight Town."_

_"Twilight Town..." I murmur the words to myself. "Sounds like a pretty interesting place."_

_"It is. We should go there once we get a chance later. Come on, I'll take you to Master Yen Sid. He's a really powerful sorcerer. He'll be able to get your memories back."_

**Chapter 4: It's Not Easy Being A Princess**

I look back up at the sky. "What time is it over here? Nighttime was just beginning to fall when we left Spira."

"Time is relative depending on what world you're in," Sora explains to me. "Some worlds could be experiencing daytime while others could be experiencing nighttime simultaneously. It's always nighttime over here.""

"Sora! Where the heck have you been?" A deep male voice calls out. It's coming from near the Tower. I can't see the owner due to the thick trees blocking my view but Sora can however.

He scratches the back of his head nervously, grinning. "Sorry, I got a...bit tied up." He suddenly realizes something, throwing a glance my way. "Riku! Guess who I found!" His excitement is obvious.

"Who? Santa Claus? Because he put me on the naughty list again last Christmas."

Sora shakes his head. "No, Kairi!"

"What?" The guy says quietly.

"Kairi, come here." Sora signals with his head for me to come closer.

I stride over to him and my eyes fall upon a boy standing near the steps to the Tower. He's tall, much taller than me. Sora just comes up to his shoulders. In addition to that, he looks to maybe a year older than him. His white hair falls down past his shoulders and the muscles in his arm are exposed in the vest he's wearing.

He wears a sleeveless, black, double-zippered shirt under a white vest. The white vest is yellow at the bottom with a blue stripe separating the two other colors. On his left arm he wears a loose white cloth that reaches a little bit above his fingers and up between his wrist and elbow. His blue baggy pants have very large, paler pockets, and are held up by a black and silver belt. His white shoes are gray on the bottom and top, with three black stripes on each side, and the shoelaces are yellow.

_So this is Riku_, I think. According to Sora, we're best friends. I have no recollection of him though. Nothing comes to mind as I peer into his face.

I smile and give a little wave of my hand at him. "Hi," I say.

Riku just stares at me for a few moments before striding forward, his long legs quickly covering the distance between us.

He grins. "Man, I don't believe it. Kairi, you're back! You have no idea how long we've been looking for you. Sora was moping for days."

"I was not!" Sora protests.

"Whatever," Riku rolls his eyes. I giggle. I can definitely tell they are best friends.

"Where have you been?" Riku asks me. "And how come you haven't come back?"

"I was in Spira. And...I kind of lost my memories."

Riku looks at me in confusion. "What?"

"I landed in Spira a few weeks ago without any of my memories, so I had no clue about"— I wave my hand in the air—"any of this. If it wasn't for Sora finding me, I probably would have still been there."

Saying that out loud to Riku made me realize that fact. If Sora had never arrived in Spira...how long would it have been before I started to get clues to my past? Would I have ever learned the truth?

"So...when you say you lost your memories..."

Riku knows the truth before I even tell him. I smile sadly. "I don't remember you at all. Sorry," I add.

He continues to observe me before shifting his weight onto his other leg and crossing his arms over his chest. "Huh. So you don't remember anything?"

I shake my head. "Nothing."

"She doesn't remember you, me, the King, Master Yen Sid, or anyone else for that matter," Sora says. "And she lost all her memories of our past missions together to other worlds."

Riku raises an eyebrow. "She forgot that much?" Sora nods slowly. Riku scratches his head. "Well this _is_ a problem..."

"I was thinking Master Yen Sid could help. He's the only solution I could think of."

Riku thinks it over. "We can try. Though I'm not sure if Master Yen Sid's magic is strong enough to restore lost memories."

"Master Yen Sid is a powerful sorcerer. He'll know what to do."

xxxxx

Master Yen Sid's study room has light brown walls with blue at the top of them. Bookshelves stacked with books are positioned around the room. There's a chalkboard to one side and pottery items like vases litter the room.

Large star-shaped windows display the strange-looking sky in the distance. There's a long wooden desk in the middle of the room, with a skull in one corner. Master Yen Sid sits in a tall grand chair behind the table.

He's an elderly-looking man with a long gray beard and extremely thick gray eyebrows to match. He's dressed in a long blue, flowing robe with wide flowing sleeves.

He studies me as I stand in front of the table with stern eyes, a small frown on his face. I'm not sure where I'm supposed to be looking, so I just glance around the room, waiting for the sorcerer to finally say something. It's making me a little uncomfortable with him staring at me like that. I wish he'd say something already.

After what seems like an eternity and a minute later, he finally speaks. "I'm afraid I do not know what to do," he says in a deep gravelly voice.

My eyes flash to him. "What?"

Sora takes a step forward. "You meant you can't bring back her memories?"

Master Yen Sid sits back in his chair with a deep sigh. "I am deeply apologetic Kairi, but I do not have the means to restore your memories. It is out of my power. I can do many things, but restoring memories isn't one of them."

Well that sucks. Sora sighs from next to me. "Aww man, I really thought it was going to work…" He pouts, sticking out his lower lip. He looks like a little kid. "It's ok, Sora," I comfort him. "We'll…just have to find something else."

Sora knits his brows, thinking about something. He snaps his fingers. "Hey, what about Merlin?"

"Who?"

"Oh right, you forgot. Merlin's a wizard who lives in Hollow Bastion. His magic is pretty powerful."

"I don't know, Sora," Riku speaks up, removing himself from the wall. "If Master Yen Sid couldn't get the job done, it's possible Merlin can't do it either."

"Hey, we have to do everything we can to get Kairi her memories back! If there's a possibility, we should go for it," Sora says, his eyes shining with determination. Sora isn't willing to give up so quickly.

Riku opens his mouth so say something but Master Yen Sid beats him to it. "You should go to Hollow Bastion and talk to Merlin. Perhaps he can be of help." Master Yen Sid has a very slow manner of speaking. From that and how he carries himself, I can tell he doesn't like to hurry.

Riku relents. "Alright. I guess it can't hurt."

"I'll bring your Gummi ship around." A large vessel appears behind one of the windows of Yen Sid's room. I can't see all of it through the window because of its size.

"Thanks, Master Yen Sid. We'll be back," Sora says, and leaves the room. Riku is right behind him.

I'm just beginning to follow after them until Master Yen Sid calls my name. I turn around. "Yes?"

"Kairi," he starts. "Whether or not you get your memories back…there's something I need to talk to you about."

That doesn't sound too good to me. It almost sounds troubling from the way he said it. I feel a little nervous now.

"Yes, sir." I nod and exit the room.

Sora, Riku, and I walk down the seemingly endless flight of stairs that we climbed up to get to the top of Master Yen Sid's tower. Walking up them was a struggle, but walking down is a walk in the park. My legs don't scream in pain as much.

I ask them Sora and Riku how we ended up with Keyblades in the Heartless-hunting business in the first place. They tell me stories about our past adventures. When Sora and Riku were little, they were on the beach one day when three strange men appeared, I along with them. Sora and Riku said the details were a little hazy because we were so little, but the men held strange weapons in their hands, which were later assumed to be Keyblades.

The men told them to find someone who could take care of me, and left me in their temporary care. After that was settled, they performed the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony on us, though we didn't know what it was at the time. The three men then left the Islands, never to be seen again.

I was adopted by the mayor of Destiny Islands and I lived a normal life, hanging out with Sora and Riku, who became my best friends, and other islanders around our age like Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka. Our encounter with the strangers became a distant memory of the past that we nearly forgot about. We didn't even remember what they looked like. Until a mouse king by the name of Mickey arrived in Destiny Islands.

Or crash-landed I should say. He was testing out a new Gummi ship model and he lost control of it. It transported him accidentally to a brand-new world that he never been to before. Sora, Riku, and I were on the beach swimming when we saw the aircraft fly out of the sky and land on the other side of the beach.

We quickly ran over to see if anyone was hurt and if we could offer some assistance when we saw a two-foot tall, anthropomorphic, talking mouse emerge from the aircraft relatively unscathed, thanks to some "magic" he had. After making sure he was ok, he asked us what world he was in.

He then noticed that we had the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony performed on us, and told us of his mission of traveling to various worlds and eradicating the Heartless threat there. He told us all about Heartless, Keyblades, distant worlds that we knew nothing about and were beyond our wildest imaginations.

This excited Riku, who was eager to travel to different worlds and see what was out there. The King saw that we had strong hearts and asked us to join in his quest. Riku quickly agreed, and Sora soon after, though apparently I was a little hesitant.

These Heartless creatures scared me a little, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave the comfort of my island home for such a dangerous adventure. Still, the thought of seeing new worlds fascinated me a little, and after some persuasion from Sora and Riku, I decided to join in.

Thankfully, the Gummi ship the King was riding in was surprisingly not damaged much, the King managing to slow it down considerably before it crashed into the sand. Two squirrels named Chip and Dale, the ship's engineers, made some minor repairs, and we were on our way. But not before Sora, Riku, and I not grabbed some necessities from our homes.

Our destination was the Mysterious Tower, the residence of the King's teacher, Master Yen Sid. It would become our home base. Once there, the King began our training, teaching us first how to summon our Keyblades. When we learned that, we moved into swordplay and magic. Sora and Riku excelled at swordplay, since they grew up fighting each other with wooden swords. I never really played with swords, so I was relatively slower in picking up the techniques, but I eventually got the hang of it.

On the other hand, I was really good with magic. Master Yen Sid praised my talent for magic, saying that I had a lot of potential.

Our training lasted for weeks, but we finally reached a level where Mickey thought we were ready to go into battle. Again, I was a bit nervous, but I still wanted to go out there. The four of us traveled to many different worlds on our quest.

In the beginning, Mickey traveled with us in the Gummi ship, to provide assistance since we were still pretty new to fighting Heartless. But after a while, when we started becoming more and more skilled with our Keyblades, he stopped coming with us, and he started going on separate missions to other worlds.

Our battle against the forces of evil pitted us against some really strong enemies, but we were able to defeat them all through our teamwork. We had some run-ins with Pete aka Cat Dude and the evil fairy he was working for, Maleficent, who was trying to raise a Heartless army, but we stopped them each time.

"Whoa," I breathe in awe, trying to process all this information. "We really did a lot." It saddens me a little to think I forgot all about this. The three of us seemed to have had some pretty awesome times.

"Yeah, we did," Sora agrees. "Hard to believe it's been several months, though. Time goes by fast."

We finally climb down the last flight of stairs and head outside. The sky hasn't changed at all, just like Sora said.

He and Riku walk towards the Gummi ship. I'm wondering how we're supposed to get inside with it floating in mid-air, but as we approach it, it descends slowly to the ground.

It's made out of geometrical shaped parts with wings on the sides and a pointed structure coming out the front of it. There's a blue, raised, globe-shaped structure on top of the ship, which looks to function as the cockpit. The whole ship is colored blue, dark orange, and white.

"So you guys use the Gummi Ship instead of the Star Shard for going to other worlds?"

"Yep," Sora responds. "The Star Shard is a quicker form of transport, but it can be hard to control at times. It's best not to risk it. Speaking of which, I really need to get this Star Shard back to the King." A thought dawns on him. "Say, where _is_ the King?" He asks of Riku. "I haven't seen him."

"He went back to Disney Castle to check on Queen Minnie and things. He'll most likely be back soon."

"Oh, ok."

The Gummi ship is a lot more spacious inside than I think. In the cockpit, there are three chairs and a long control panel behind the steering wheel that's used to control the vessel.

"Cool," I note, my eyes sweeping around the place. "Who's driving?"

Sora is about to say something but Riku cuts him off, saying, "I am."

"Hey, why can't I drive?" Sora complains.

"Do you remember the last time you flew the Gummi Ship?" Riku takes a seat in the middle chair, right in front of the steering wheel. "Because I do."

Sora pouts. "I only crashed the Gummi ship one time."

"_Three_ times," Riku corrects him. "You crashed the Gummi ship _three_ times."

"Whatever," Sora retorts. "Let's just go to Hollow Bastion."

"So what's Merlin like?" I ask Sora as I take the seat on Riku's right.

"Merlin? Oh, he's nice. And very helpful. I'm sure he'll know what to do."

xxxxx

Once again I'm being examined. Merlin peers at me through his circular spectacles, making humming noises as he scrutinizes me. He strokes his beard and asks me questions every once in a while.

He's a pale elderly-looking man with a long white beard that stretches all the way to the floor. I'd never seen a beard that long. I wonder if he'd ever tripped over it before.

A large nose sticks out on his face and small black eyes peek out from underneath gray, bushy eyebrows, Short, white, balding hair covers the sides of his head, which has a tall, floppy, conical hat on top of it. Shrouding his body is a sky blue coat with wide sleeves.

We are all inside Merlin's cottage, a spacious room with a large, on-the-wall computer, stacks of books scattered all around the floor, a large chalkboard, and dressers. The room is used as the headquarters for the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. They keep an eye on the town's security system from the computer. I have to ask more questions about that later.

After a couple minutes of the examination, Merlin inhales sharply, standing straight up. "By Jove, I've got it!"

Sora, Riku and I perk up. "You do?"

"Yes, it all makes perfect sense now," Merlin replies, stroking his beard again. He dramatically raises his index finger in the air. "Kairi has lost her memories!" He declares loudly as if he has made a very shocking discovery.

Sora, Riku and I stare at Merlin with varying expressions of disbelief. If this was an anime, this would probably be the moment in which we sweat-dropped.

Riku breaks the silence by slapping a hand to his forehead and letting out a sigh. "Merlin," he groans. "We already _knew_ Kairi lost her memories. We were kind of hoping you would be able to _restore_ them."

"Ahhh," Merlin nods his head slowly. "Well I'm afraid I don't know how to do that." Riku sighs again.

Well there went two strong magic-users who couldn't restore my memories. It looked like getting them back would be a lot harder than I thought.

"Then…what do we do now?" Sora asks.

"Hmm…I haven't the slightest," Merlin answers. "But perhaps it would be best for Kairi to reunite with people from her past in order to…jog her memories, so to speak."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Seeing the faces of people you once knew might reawaken your forgotten memories."

"You think that'll work?"

Merlin strokes his beard. "It may, and it may not. But I was just recently in the Beast's Castle, well Adam's Castle I should say, talking to Belle, and it she said that she misses you. She said it's been awhile since the last time she saw you and the other princesses."

"Other princesses?" I repeat in bewilderment. I'm friends with princesses? I had no idea I was acquainted with royalty.

"I can take you there myself. It'll only take a second. Teleportation," he explains.

"Oh, well…" My eyes drift towards Sora and Riku. Riku does a little motion with his head. "Go on ahead. Sora and I will take the Gummi ship back to the Tower."

"Right." I nod. "I'll be back soon."

"Say hi to Belle for us!" Sora beams. "And I hope this works."

My face is beaming too. I'm really grateful for Sora. He's really determined to help me get my memories. Just like…

The faces of Yuna, Rikku, and Paine instantly pop up into my mind. It's the first time I thought about them since I left Spira. I'm already missing them. I still hate I had to leave them.

My sadness must be evident on my face because Sora frowns. "Are you ok?"

"Huh?" I hastily compose myself. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing. I'll see you guys later, ok?"

"Ok. See you!" And with that, Sora and Riku leave the cottage.

I turn my attention to Merlin. "Alright, I'm ready."

"Excellent! Now just stand still and…"

The teleportation is so quick, I barely even see it happen. Unlike how with the Star Shard there were splinters of light which formed into a bright wall of light that encased the users, Merlin's teleportation technique is instantaneous. One second we're in his cottage, the next we're in Adam's Castle. The cloud of white smoke that surrounds us quickly evaporates.

We stand in a spacious room with high ceilings and four stone columns that rise to meet them. There are statues around the room and a staircase with a long, red tapestry draped on it that leads up to a large green door. Two sprawling staircases wind upwards on either side of the room, leading away from each other.

The room has an old, historical style to it. It's probably hundreds of years old.

I hear footsteps and my head automatically turns towards the staircase on the right. A second later, a girl comes into view, standing at the top of the staircase. She beams at me as she hurries down the stairs and runs across the floor of the foyer.

"Kairi!" She exclaims. She looks to be around the same age as me. She wears a blue top that shows off her shapely arms and stomach and blue, long, and poofy bustle pants. Gold slippers adorn her feet, gold sports earrings are on her ears, and a gold necklace is around her neck.

Her thick, black hair is tied into a braid going down her back, accompanied by a headband with a sapphire set in a gold frame in the center.

Before I can react, she grips me into a tight embrace. She's still beaming radiantly at me when she pulls away.

"Oh, Kairi, it's so good to see you! Sora had come to Agrabah a while ago searching for you because you went missing, but I'm so glad you've been found." The girl is rather pretty, and her smile only adds more beauty to her face.

For some reason, I can sense something from her. I can't explain it, but I can just sense some…light radiating from her. And it's not from her wide smile.

"Uhh…" I begin, unsure of where to start. I wonder if she's one of the Princesses Merlin mentioned earlier. Judging from the expensive-looking gold she's wearing, it wouldn't surprise me if she is.

Her eyes flash to Merlin. "Oh, hello Merlin. How are you?" She asks in a sweet voice.

"Good, good," he replies. "Things are good in the palace, I hope?"

The black-haired beauty nods. "They are. It's been pretty quiet lately, which is good, because it gives Aladdin and me more time to plan our upcoming wedding." She focuses back on me, taking my hands in hers. "I already got the bridesmaid dresses picked out. You're going to look _so_ cute in yours," she squeals.

"Err…" I start again.

The girl cocks her head at me. "What? What's the matter?"

"Well you see, I...lost all my memories."

The girl is puzzled. "What?" She looks at Merlin for an explanation.

"I'm afraid it's the truth, Jasmine. Kairi has no memories prior to a few weeks ago. She appears to have lost them all in a foreign world she mysteriously ended up on."

"So…" Jasmine's dark brown eyes search my face. "You don't remember me?"

"No, I don't. But you look extremely familiar. That's it though."

Jasmine doesn't say anything for a few seconds, then suddenly bursts out, "Oh, this is terrible! I can't believe you lost all your memories! How will you get them back?"

"Merlin believes that meeting people from my past might, you know, jog up some lost memories. He suggested that I see the other Princesses."

"Perfect! The others are already here. Cinderella, Snow White, the whole bunch. We're in the dining room. I was just walking around for a few minutes to stretch my legs when I saw you from the top of the staircase. I was going to head back now."

I hear a strange humming noise and see that Merlin's wand is flashing. "Oh dear! I'm late for a very important appointment. I'm going to have to leave you, Kairi."

"Oh…then, about getting back…?"I no longer possess the Star Shard and I can't teleport myself back like Merlin could.

"That's ok," Jasmine says. "The Fairy Godmother brought Cinderella and everyone else here. She can take Kairi back later."

"Splendid! Well then, I best be on my way. Goodbye Kairi, and goodbye Jasmine. It was nice to see you again." And just like that, Merlin disappears in the same way we appeared, in a flash.

I face Jasmine. "So you're a princess?" I ask. "That must be cool."

"It is. And you're one too."

Wait, what? Me? A princess? Why wasn't I aware of this detail earlier? And just what place was I the princess of? I know I'm the adopted daughter of the mayor of Destiny Islands, but that was a long shot from princess as far as I know.

"W-w-what?" I stutter in disbelief.

"Well, not an _actual_ princess," Jasmine explains. "A Princess of Heart."

I stare blankly at her. "A Princess of what?"

Jasmine opens her mouth and then almost immediately shuts it. "The others and I will explain in the dining room."

xxxxx

Walking into the dining room, I am immediately "attacked" by five other women who rush over to me, choking the life out of me with their bone-breaking hugs.

There's a blonde girl who appears to be a little younger than me, dressed in a simple blue dress, white tights, and Mary Janes. She is named Alice. The four others are clearly young women, older than Jasmine and I.

There's a young and pale but sweet-looking woman with short black hair and red lipstick named Snow White. Another woman named Belle has brown hair pulled back into a bun, tied back with a blue ribbon that matches her outfit.

There's another woman with fair skin and long blonde hair, though hers is darker than Alice's, and blue eyes; she's known as Cinderella, or Ella for short. And the last is an intelligent-looking woman with indigo-colored eyes and waist-length blonde hair named Aurora.

After the greetings are done and over, Jasmine brings the group up to speed about how I had lost my memories. They're shocked to say the least.

"Oh, this _is_ terrible!" Belle laments, a deep frown settling on her face that doesn't seem to match her bright personality. "You mean to tell me you forgot all the times we had tea together?"

I nod my head. Belle sighs deeply.

"But…you'll be able to get them back, right?" Alice tentatively asks, a tinge of hope penetrating her voice.

"I don't know. I was hoping seeing you guys would get my memories, back, but..." I looked around at their faces. "I got nothing. You guys wouldn't happen to have any solutions, would you?"

The girls shared glances. Aurora shakes her head. "I'm sorry, but we don't have anything from my world that can restore memories."

"Nor do I," Snow White says.

"Me neither," Alice says.

"Sorry, me neither," Jasmine says.

"No, I won't be able to help either," Cinderella says.

Belle exhales. "And I don't have anything either." She stares hard at the floor. "I wish there was something more we could do."

I wave my hands in the air, almost trying to dispel the gloom that had descended over the occupants in the room. "No, no, don't beat yourself over it. I'll eventually get my memories back. I suppose it'll just take my time."

I remember something from the conversation Jasmine and I had downstairs in the foyer just now. "In the meantime, can you explain to me this 'Princesses of Heart' thing? And why I'm a Princess?"

"Of course!" Belle exclaims. "But I think the story would go best with some tea. It's getting cold."

Once we all sit down around the dining table with our tea and cookies, Belle clears her throat.

"So technically speaking, the only real princesses in this room are Jasmine, Cinderella, Aurora and Snow White. Jasmine is the daughter of a sultan, and Cinderella, Aurora, and Snow White married princes."

"Really?"

"Yes. Though I suppose I'll be considered a princess when Adam and I get married eventually. You and Alice are pretty much normal girls who don't come from royalty, and aren't marrying any princes. At least none that I know of."

"Then how we did get to become Princesses of Heart?"

"We don't exactly know," Aurora says. "And we've been Princesses of Heart from birth, even before Ella, Snow, and I got married. But we do know that Princesses of Heart are people with hearts devoid of darkness in their hearts. They're nothing but pure light."

"Pure light?"

"Yep," Jasmine pipes up. "It means that you can't be corrupted by the darkness. You can't be turned evil. You also get some abilities with being a Princess of Heart."

"Abilities?" That grabs my attention.

"Uh-huh. Because we're essentially light, we can sense darkness, push it away physically, and also upgrade powers. Like make magic spells stronger."

"Wow. That sounds pretty useful." That pushing darkness away ability seemed like it would come in handy a lot.

"There's a legend in a book that discusses the topic of the Princesses of Heart and their nature," Cinderella states. "I've never actually seen it, but it says that the pure hearts of the Princesses can be sensed, though I believe only by someone with a very strong heart. I don't think it's something anyone can detect."

"Who wrote this book?" I ask.

Cinderella doesn't have an answer. "That's unknown. The book doesn't have a name on it. The author it seems didn't want his or her name to be known, like it was dangerous for their indenting to be revealed."

"And unfortunately, being the Princesses of Heart has put us in danger before," Snow White murmurs.

Belle nods her head. "Over ten years ago, when we were much younger, this man kidnapped us from our homes, all except for you. We were taken somewhere far from home, where the man revealed our identity as Princesses of Heart and said he would be using our hearts to achieve something."

"Achieve what?" This story is getting good. But I probably shouldn't be too interested in it since it seems to have caused distress for the other girls, if the facial expression Snow White is bearing is any indication.

"I don't know. He never said what his goal was. He never even told us his name. He had us locked up somewhere while he went looking for you."

"Me?" I say dumbly as if Belle could possibly be referring to someone else.

"He said he needed one more piece to fit the puzzle," Aurora says. "You were still out there somewhere, and he needed all the Princesses for his plan to work." Aurora takes a sip of her tea. "I believe he went traveling to different worlds to try and find you. He had done blind searches to find us. He didn't know our names or what worlds we would be in, so he had no choice but to journey to a random world and look around for the appropriate maiden."

"While he was gone, we managed to escape," Cinderella says. "We were found by King Mickey who had crash-landed his ship on the world we were at."

"Again?" I ask myself out loud. What was with Sora and the King crashing Gummi ships?

"He naturally knew that were Princesses of Heart and we told him what happened. We escaped in his ship."

"Luckily, you were never found, obviously," Jasmine says. "We went into hiding after our return to our worlds, but the mystery man never came back for us. Either that or we were just really good at lying low."

"Hmm…" I take a bite out of my cookie. "I wonder why…"

"We'll never know. And I'm fine with that," Cinderella says with a tinge of relief in her voice. "I don't ever want to be kidnapped again." She shudders involuntarily.

"What did he look like?"

"We don't know," Snow White replies in a soft voice. I almost have to strain my ears to hear her. "He wore a black coat and never showed us his face. There's not much we know much about him."

"So then how did you guys figure out that I was a Princess of Heart?" I ask.

"King Mickey told you," Belle answers. "And when you visited our worlds for the first time, we automatically knew. I guess we fellow Princesses can sense one another in our presence. It was after that we started doing tea with each other every once in a while. You brought us together. Before that, the last time we had seen each other was when we were kidnapped."

I'm amazed. "I did all that?"

"Of course," Aurora smiles. "You're a very charismatic person."

"Oh, well, thanks," I smile back in surprise.

"Now enough talk about kidnappings and what not!" Belle sets her teacup down on the table. "Let's have some fun!"

The seven of us sit around reminiscing on old memories, or in my case "relearning" my memories. We have a good time, until we see what time it is and decide to call it quits. Cinderella summons her Fairy Grandmother, a round elderly woman in a cloak and hood, who transports us back to our home worlds. Belle lives here in the castle, so she said goodbye to each person as they left.

I'm the last to go. "Where to, dearie?" The Fairy Godmother kindly asks me.

"The Mysterious Tower, please."

"That I can do." She waves her wand through the air, and the next thing I know, I'm standing just inside the entrance of the Tower. The winding staircase looms in front of me.

I groan. "Oh shoot. I should have asked her to take me directly to Master Yen Sid's study." I sigh as I shuffle over to the staircase. "Oh well, a little exercise won't kill me," I say to myself as I place a foot on the first step.

When I get to the top of the staircase I'm out of breath and huffing and puffing for dear oxygen. I have to take a minute or two to breathe and compose myself so I don't look like a crazy person when I enter into the study.

Master Yen Sid is in there, as well as Sora and Riku, but there's someone else in there. Taking one glance at him, I know he's the King I have heard so much about. His round mouse ears are a dead giveaway.

Everyone in the room turns to look at me the second I cross the threshold into the room. "Kairi! You're back!" Sora exclaims with glee.

"Hey," I say, still a little breathless from my tiring ascent up the stairs.

"Did it…work?" Riku asks, almost like he's a little afraid to ask the question.

I can only shake my head, visibly upsetting him and Sora.

The King smiles up at me. "Well in any case, it's good to see ya again, Kairi."

His Majesty is barely over two feet tall, with black fur and a long tail. The top half of his jacket is black, while the bottom half is red, and two yellow straps dangle in front of it. His pants are red with a zipper going down the front of each leg.

Each leg has a yellow pouch with a black strap that partially covers the zipper, as well as a blue strap on the outer side of each pant leg. He wears very large, yellow shoes with grey backs and two orange intersecting straps attached to the front of each shoe.

This is the individual that recruited Sora, Riku and me from the Islands and trained us to use Keyblades. He looks too innocent to be a fighter, but I guess the same thing could be said for me.

"Hi, er, sorry, but I don't—"

"You don't have to explain. I was already filled in on the situation by the others."

"Oh." I let out a relieved sigh. "Good. I've had to do a lot of explaining today."

I notice Master Yen Sid at his desk. "So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes. I had a couple questions to ask you."

"What are they?"

"When you were in Spira, did you happen to encounter any Heartless or other enemies?" He asks.

He gives me a couple moments to think about it. "I didn't. The only time I saw them was the day I was reunited with Sora. But during the entire time I was in the world, I didn't see any Heartless. Why?"

"As a Keyblade wielder, you are a target for Heartless, which are attracted to strong hearts. But it seems that the world hadn't been touched by the darkness and the Heartless yet, so you would have been fine."

"At first when you disappeared, I feared that you had been kidnapped by the same man who kidnapped the other Princesses of Heart ten years ago. But I see that was not the case."

"Yeah, Belle and the others filled me in on what happened."

"My other question is, you've lost all your memories, is that correct?"

"Yeah."

Master Yen Sid's face instantly becomes grave. "Then that brings up the issue I really wanted to address. If you've lost all your memories, then that should mean you lost all your memories as a Keyblade wielder. This means we may have to start all over again from the beginning to regain your Keyblade abilities."

"Is that so?" The King asks.

"I'm afraid it might be," Master Yen Sid responds in his deep voice.

"Hey, when Kairi and I were in that Spira world and she fought against Pete and his Heartless, I think she did pretty good, considering the circumstances," Sora says generously. I didn't think I did _that_ great, but then again, I did defeat all the enemies Pete threw at me. "I don't think she completely forgot everything."

"Hmm…" The King crosses his arms over his chest and stares at the floor. "It might be muscle memory," he thinks aloud. "Her body is probably so used to the motions that it can do them even when the brain has seemed to forget them…" He glances up at me. "Can ya do any magic spells?"

"I can do magic spells?!" No one told me this either. What kind of magic could I do? Could I teleport like Merlin. That would be pretty convenient.

"I guess that's a no then," Riku mutters.

"What do we do then?" The King asks of Master Yen Sid, worry in his voice.

The sorcerer ponders over it for several seconds. I can almost see the gears whirring in his mind. "Kairi, Sora and Riku were supposed to take their Mark of Mastery exams before Kairi's disappearance, but she will be unable to do hers now in her condition."

"What does that mean?" Sora asks.

Master Yen Sid thinks some more, interlocking his fingers in front of him and resting his chin on them.

"One week," he finally declares. "One week for Kairi to get some training, just enough to make her proficient in battle. The exams will have to be postponed of course…unless Sora and Riku want to do theirs now."

I assume that Sora and Riku would opt to take their exams now. I shouldn't be in the way of them taking the next step. So I'm pleasantly surprised when they choose not to do so.

"No. Not until Kairi gets her memories back," Sora says. "We all go in together."

"Very well, then." Master Yen Sid sits back in his chair. "We'll all work with Kairi to retrain her. After the one week is over, you will be sent to different worlds to combat the Heartless there. A week is too short for my liking, but unfortunately"—Master Yen Sid's eyes narrow—"time is a luxury we can't afford. Darkness is already spreading to new worlds and more and more Heartless are cropping up. We cannot waste any more time. We have to make Kairi's training as efficient as possible in the short time we have."

"When do we start?" I ask. I'm not sure how much training we'll be able to fit into a week. Sora and Riku told me earlier that when we first started off as Keyblade wielders, it had taken us weeks before Mickey thought we were ready. I can already sense long days of Keyblade boot camp ahead.

"Tomorrow. A good night's sleep would be beneficial for everyone to refresh themselves."

"Alright. I'll be ready for tomorrow." Let the training begin.

xxxxx

ElvenPrincess01: Wow, that was kind of a long chapter. I didn't realize it would be so long when I first started, but as I got deeper and deeper into it, I was like, "This is going to be a lengthy chapter." I guess it's kind of a good thing since I noticed that the previous chapters were relatively short. The chapters will be getting "meatier" though, I think.

ElvenPrincess01: The three men that delivered Kairi to the Islands will be brought up later in the story, but much later, so don't forget about them. And also the mystery man that kidnapped the Princesses will be brought up later as well.

Sora: Why did you have to put the bit about me crashing the Gummi ship in there?

ElvenPrincess01: Because it happened, perhaps?

Sora: I happen to be an expert pilot.

Kairi: Expert pilots don't crash ships.

Sora: Kairi! You're supposed to be on my side!

Riku: She's right though.

Sora: *grumbles incoherently*

ElvenPrincess01: Well that's a wrap folks! Thanks for reading! Please subscribe and leave a review! Till next time!

xxxxx


	5. Back to the Basics

ElvenPrincess01: Wow, I must be on a roll as of late. I only updated the story a few days ago and now I'm updating again. I did have a lot of inspiration for this story and once I got started, I found it hard to finish. Stayed up to two in the morning to finish it and I had class later that morning. But that aside, Kairi's going to be starting her training and—

Sora: Sorry to interrupt, but have you seen my hair gel? I can't find it anywhere.

ElvenPrincess01: Er, hair gel? You use hair gel?

Sora: Of course. *runs fingers through hair* You think I get these fabulous-looking spikes naturally?

ElvenPrincess01: Well, I was kind of under that impression, yes.

Sora: Anyways, have you seen it around? It's in a clear jar with a black lid.

ElvenPrincess01: No, I have not. But since you're here, care to do the disclaimer?

Sora: Leave it to me! ElvenPrincess01 does not, I repeat, DOES NOT own Kingdom Hearts.

ElvenPrincess01: But I do own these Skittles! *chews happily* Enjoy!

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter_

"_One week," he finally declares. "One week for Kairi to get some training, just enough to make her proficient in battle. The exams will have to be postponed of course…unless Sora and Riku want to do theirs now."_

_I assume that Sora and Riku would opt to take their exams now. I shouldn't be in the way of them taking the next step. So I'm pleasantly surprised when they choose not to do so._

"_No. Not until Kairi gets her memories back," Sora says. "We all go in together."_

"_Very well, then." Master Yen Sid sits back in his chair. "We'll all work with Kairi to retrain her. After the one week is over, you will be sent to different worlds to combat the Heartless there. A week is too short for my liking, but unfortunately"—Master Yen Sid's eyes narrow—"time is a luxury we can't afford. Darkness is already spreading to new worlds and more and more Heartless are cropping up. We cannot waste any more time. We have to make Kairi's training as efficient as possible in the short time we have."_

"_When do we start?" I ask. I'm not sure how much training we'll be able to fit into a week. Sora and Riku told me earlier that when we first started off as Keyblade wielders, it had taken us weeks before Mickey thought we were ready. I can already sense long days of Keyblade boot camp ahead. _

"_Tomorrow. A good night's sleep would be beneficial for everyone to refresh themselves."_

"_Alright. I'll be ready for tomorrow." Let the training begin._

**Chapter 5: Back to the Basics**

Riku stretches his long arms towards the ceiling, his mouth opening in a long yawn.

"I need some sleep. It's been a long day." He turns to leave. "Night." He's out the door before we can say goodnight to him back.

"Master Yen Sid," King Mickey speaks, "about this darkness spreading…do ya sense anything?"

Yen Sid's face becomes grave again. "It is hard to say. I am not sure what is happening, but I can sense dark forces at work. Something is being plotted. That much I can tell."

I wonder about these "dark forces" at work and I become a little frightful inside. They sound really strong if Mickey and Master Yen Sid are so worried about them. I'm a little more uncertain of how ready I can be after one week of training. It won't do me any good if I'm unprepared.

"Don't worry, we'll handle them," Sora boasts proudly, puffing his chest out. If only I had Sora's courage.

A smile appears on the King's face, as well as a tiny one on Yen Sid. "I expected to hear such words from you, Sora. But do not become too hasty and rush into danger; it could be your downfall."

"But enough about that." All the seriousness vanishes from Yen Sid's face and his voice. At least more than the normal, standard amount. "Go now and get some sleep. You'll need it."

"Where exactly are we sleeping?" I pipe up. I did see some doors in the room outside the study. Are those supposed to be our bedrooms?

"Here, I'll show you," Sora offers as he directs me outside.

The area outside the study has brown-colored walls and large brightly-shining crescent moons on them. A couple pedestals next to the study's door have crescent moon-shaped figures on them. I'm beginning to think that Yen Sid has a thing for astronomy with all these moons and stars all over the tower.

Sora guides me to one of the doors near Yen Sid's study and pushes it open, gesturing me inside the room. "This is your room, Kairi."

Walking into it makes me feel like I'm in familiar surroundings. The room is small and quite simple, with the same brown color and crescent moon shapes adorning the wall like the ones outside the room, though the ones in here are blue unlike the ones outside.

There's a bed at the far side of the room and a nightstand with a lamp next to it. There's also a dresser beside the door. The window next to the bed is veiled by light blue curtains. I look up to see dozens of star decorations on the ceiling, glowing faintly from above, like there's a miniature sky in my bedroom.

As I saunter further into the room, my eyes fall on a picture frame perched on the nightstand. Drawing closer to it I see it's a picture of Sora, Riku and I. We look a little younger than we do now.

Sora still has his characteristic spikes, but Riku's silver hair is shorter, stopping right above his shoulders. My hair is shorter as well, cut into a bob that frames my face. Riku isn't nearly as tall as he is now, hovering just a few inches over Sora, and he's considerably less muscular. He definitely went through some major physical changes.

The three of us are standing together in front of a palm tree in what I presume to be at Destiny Islands. Sora and Riku are next to each other, Sora with a wide grin on his face and Riku with a lopsided smile on his face, looking as cool as ever. I'm in front of the two, bending over a bit with a big smile on my face as I hold up the peace sign.

"What's this?" I ask Sora, picking up the picture frame.

"Huh?" Sora moves closer to me. "Oh, that was a picture we took a year ago at Destiny Islands. Selphie took it for us. It was one of your favorite possessions. You brought it with you when we came here to start our training as Keyblade wielders."

I peer intently at the picture, taking in the sand on the beach, the bright yellow sun, the clear, glistening waters, the expressions of cheerfulness on our faces. For being one of my favorite possessions, I certainly can't remember anything about taking this picture.

All of a sudden, I feel a sharp pain in one side of my head, increasing steadily in pressure as I hear something in my mind. It's the distant sound of a girl's voice.

"_Hey, Riku! At least smile or something! Show some teeth…Well, I suppose that'll do…Ok, everyone ready? Then on the count of three, say cheese! 1…2…3!" Then there are peals of laughter. "Ha ha ha! Nice one, guys! Let's do another one!"_

The sharp pain in my head now spreads across my forehead. It feels like a really bad migraine. My hand which holds the picture frame falls to my side, and I hold my other hand to my head. Closing my eyes, I try to block out the pain.

"Kairi! What's the matter?!" Sora's voice, frantic now, is closer to me than before.

Luckily, the pain starts to fade away gradually, and I am able to open my eyes. Sora's face is the first thing I see, his eyes filled with concern.

"Are you ok?"

I slowly shake my head up and down, afraid too much motion will restart the migraine again.

"Yeah…I'm fine," I assure him and straighten up. "I don't know what came over me. My head just started hurting for a second." The pain doesn't come back so I think I'm good for now.

"Maybe you should get some sleep," Sora suggests, still looking worried.

I place the picture frame back on the nightstand, trying not to look at it anymore lest I have another memory-induced migraine. "Yeah, you're right." I change the topic. "Hey, where are your and Riku's rooms at?"

"We're on the floor right below here. Riku's on the left and I'm on the right."

"Ah, I see."

"I'll leave you now so you can get some sleep," Sora tells me as heads to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Right." I sit down on the bed and it sinks down slightly in response to my weight.

Just as Sora is about to leave the room, he twists around to face me. "Hey…Kairi?"

"Yeah?"

"I…I don't know if I've said this already, but…" He looks deeply into my eyes, a small smile on his face. "I'm really glad you're back."

I am touched by the sincerity present in Sora's voice and I stare back into his crystal-blue orbs for a few seconds, becoming lost in them, before I shook my head out of my stupor.

"Thanks. I'm glad to be back."

Sora continues to smile at me. "Good night."

"Good night." He closes the door softly.

I wait until I can't hear Sora's footsteps anymore before sighing, lying back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling.

_Man_, I think. _Today really was a day_. In the same day I was reunited with Sora, had another encounter with Pete, summoned my Keyblade, came to terms with my real past, journeyed to the Mysterious Tower, reunited with Riku, the King, and Yen Sid, and had tea with princesses who were just like me. I want to say it was just like yesterday that I was hunting down spheres with Yuna, Rikku, and Paine, but…it was just yesterday.

And through all that happened, despite what Sora and Riku told me about our escapades and seeing old faces from my past, I still haven't regained my memories.

Except what happened when I was holding the picture of Sora, Riku and me? I heard a girl's voice as clear as day in my head. And Sora said Selphie, one of our friends from Destiny Islands, had taken the picture. From what I heard in my head, it definitely sounded like that was her voice as she snapped the photo.

Was that a lost memory that I was remembering? Did somehow looking at the picture trigger something beneath the surface, something deep from within my mind?

The pain in my head was probably a result of my mind struggling to recall lost memories from deep within my consciousness. Paine was right; my memories were hidden deep somewhere and I had to make them resurface. But I'm not sure how I'm supposed to go about doing that. And I would prefer not having to get all my memories back by having migraines.

_Oh well. I'll worry about that later. I have training tomorrow. I have to be at 100% tomorrow. Time to get some shuteye._

Without even bothering to get underneath the covers, I fall asleep just how I'm lying on the bed, the moons on the ceiling shining over me as I fade into dreamland.

xxxxx

I don't have any dreams that night, and I sleep soundly like a baby. I guess I was more tired than I what I thought earlier. I'm roused from my slumber the next morning by a light knocking on my door. It's a good thing I'm not much of a heavy sleeper or I would have missed it.

Bleary-eyed and running my fingers through my hair, I open the door to see the tall figure of Riku standing right in front of my doorway.

"Oh, good morning Riku. What's up?"

He shrugs casually. "Nothing much. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I feel pretty good." I'm actually a little tired, but if I go back to sleep, I might not get back up again for a long while. My bed is pretty comfy, and I did have a pretty exhausting day yesterday. However there is work to be done.

"Are you ready for training?"

"You're training me today?" I ask, a little surprised. I presumed Yen Sid or the King would be starting me off today.

"Yeah. Meet me outside in the courtyard when you're ready, ok?"

"Ok."

After freshening myself up a bit and giving myself a mini pep talk, I follow Riku's orders and head down to the courtyard where he waits, his arms crossed over his chest as usual.

He looks up when he sees me and uncrosses his arms. "You ready?"

"Yeah. Let's do this," I say determinedly. I don't know what's in store for today, but I'm going to do my best.

Riku has me stand a few feet in front of him. "Ok, first things first, I want you to summon your Keyblade. Sora said you were able to summon yours before, but I need to make sure you can do it at any time." He holds out his arm and his Keyblade materializes into his hand.

Riku's Keyblade is broad, slightly wider than Sora's and mine, colored dark red and blue with wings sprouting out of the guard. There's another wing acting as the teeth of the blade.

He drops his arm at his side. "Now summon yours."

I hold my hand out in front of me just like last time and will my Keyblade to come into my hand. A few seconds later, it materializes. I sigh inwardly in relief, a part of me thinking it wasn't going to appear and Riku and I would be waiting around forever.

"Good." Riku nods, somewhat impressed with my try. "You got it to appear on your first try. That doesn't usually happen." I figure he's referring to when the King was teaching us to become wielders and he taught us how to summon our Keyblades.

"But, you need to work on making it appear quicker. A few seconds isn't bad, but it needs to be instantaneous. If you're attacked somewhere, you need to be able summon your Keyblade in the blink of eye so you can defend yourself and go on the attack. Those few seconds could be the difference in how the tide of the battle plays out." Riku talks like an expert, looking like he knows his stuff.

"Now make it disappear and summon it again. And this time don't think you can't summon your Keyblade." It's almost like he can mentally sense my doubt. He probably can.

I make my Keyblade disappear, which is a lot easier than summoning it. I stick my arm back out and concentrate. The Keyblade comes quicker this time, only after a couple seconds. But it still isn't good enough.

"Better, but it needs to be just a _little_ quicker," Riku advises gently. He's trying to give me criticism without coming off too harsh. "When you summon your Keyblade, don't think about it. I see you staring at your hand and focusing hard, but that isn't necessary."

"Summoning your Keyblade is like second nature. In the same second you will your Keyblade to appear, it appears. It's just like that." If only it were that simple.

Several tries later, I'm able to make my Keyblade materialize instantly. Relief washes over me as I pass the test to Riku's satisfaction.

"Alright. Now you don't always have to summon your Keyblade by sticking your hand out in front of you." He makes his Keyblade disappear in a flash of light. "You can also swing your arm across…" He raises his arm into the air and swings it sideways, his Keyblade appearing in his hand as he finishes the swing.

"And you can summon it at your side." He makes his Keyblade disappear and rests his arm at his side. Almost immediately, his Keyblade is summoned back into his hand.

"You try it," he instructs me. I practice summoning my Keyblade in the two ways Riku just demonstrated for me. Swinging it sideways isn't that hard to pick up, but trying to summoning it at my side is a bit more challenging.

I attempt to bring it forth with my arm at my side but it's just so much easier to summon the weapon when I can look at my hand and call it next to me.

"Remember Kairi, don't think about it. Just do it," Riku urges, his voice remaining steady. He doesn't sound frustrated at all; he's a very good teacher.

My eyes fall towards the ground, not in disappointment, but in concentration.

"Now…summon your Keyblade." I will my Keyblade to appear and it does, right when I tell it to.

I gasp in happiness, glancing up at Riku who is pleased. "I did it!" I grin.

"Nice," he congratulates me. "Let's apply it then."

"What do you mean?"

Riku doesn't immediately answer, instead backing up and putting some space between him and me. "I'm going to come at you with my Keyblade. I want you to summon your Keyblade in time to block my strike."

"What?" I'm a little anxious at Riku's plan. What if I couldn't block it in time? "Are you sure?"

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," he promises me. "Just remember what I told you, ok?"

He gets into a battle stance, spreading his legs out and bending his knees so he's closer to the ground, his Keyblade in one arm, aimed right at me like an arrow.

"Ready?" He focuses his blue-green eyes on me.

"Uh…sure…" _Let's try not to screw this up_, I tell myself.

"I'm coming on 3." Riku begins to count. "1…2…3!" Riku rushes forward at me, his Keyblade in tow.

I foolishly panic at Riku's figure charging at me, and when he is only several feet from me, I dart over to my right, out of his path.

He abruptly stops and stands up straight, knitting his eyebrows. "Uh, Kairi? You were supposed to summon your Keyblade and stop me." Is that a hint of amusement in his voice?

I interlock my fingers and rest them in front of me. "I know, I know. I panicked. Sorry," I apologize.

Riku sighs, though he doesn't sound upset. "What are you panicking for? It's not like I'm gonna hurt you."

"I know, but I'm still kinda new to all this. I've never done anything like this." In the last few weeks I remember, I never fought anyone; well anyone besides Cat Dude's Heartless which I fought once. And I'm still not sure how I managed to win that one. Luck must have been on my side that day.

"You took on Pete's Heartless all by yourself. Sora told me."

"Yeah, because Sora was in trouble. I couldn't just stand there and do nothing."

"Then pretend that Sora's in trouble and that I'm your enemy. Think of it like that."

Acting on Riku's words, I pretend that Riku is one of the Heartless Pete had conjured up. It's a little hard to do since Riku is so tall and the Heartless were so short, but luckily I have a good imagination.

"Ready?" Riku readies his battle stance once more.

I exhale in determination and nod my head firmly. "Yeah. Come at me," I say boldly. I'll get it this time.

"1…2…3…" Riku rushes at me again, but this time I'm ready for him.

_Remember Kairi, he's a Heartless. He's your enemy. Sora's in trouble. It's just like Cat Dude all over again._

As Riku's long legs quickly close the distance between us, I summon my Keyblade at my side right in time and bring it up in front of me. Riku's Keyblade clashes against mine.

He's got a lot of strength in those muscular arms of his. As his Keyblade collides against mine, mine trembles slightly. The force of his strike is more powerful than I thought, and I stumble back a step under the force.

Riku detects the motion and retreats a few steps, allowing me to stand back up. "Sorry," he says with a sheepish smile. "I probably put too much force into that one. I forgot you're not Sora. But good, nice block." He backs up from me again like before. I wonder what he has in mind now.

"We're going to do the same thing again, but a little different. I'm not going to count and then attack. I'll just randomly come at you. This will test your reflexes."

Once I am ready, Riku charges at me just a second later. Again I manage to parry his blow, much to my delight. There's less power in Riku's strike this time so I don't stumble back.

Riku and I run through the sequence multiple times, Riku racing towards me at varying times. Sometimes he'll be quick; sometimes he'll wait several seconds. Sometimes he'll pace a few steps from side to side, like he's trying to throw me off before attacking.

However, I ward him off each time. It gets easier with each time, until I don't even have to think about summoning my Keyblade and blocking his strike; it just happens. Like he said.

"That was really good, Kairi," Riku congratulates me. "How'd that feel?"

I take a glimpse down at my Keyblade before responding. "It felt…great. Natural almost." I judge that my battle skills are coming back to me though progress may have been a little slow at times. But Riku is a really good teacher. It's quite easy to follow him.

"Then we're on the right path."

"So what's next?"

"That was just part one, getting you comfortable with summoning your Keyblade," Riku states. "We haven't even gotten to the hard part yet."

"The _hard_ part?" I repeat. That doesn't sound fun. Not at all. What we just did was already a little challenging.

"Yeah. We're going to move into swordplay now." A rare grin shows on his face. "Lucky for you, you have me as a teacher. I was always better than Sora when it came to fighting with swords."

I remember Sora and Riku telling me yesterday that they picked up fighting with the Keyblade so quickly due to years of friendly competition of fake-fighting each other with wooden swords. They were best friends and rivals at the same time, always battling each other over everything.

"What's first?" I hope we start off easy.

"I'm just going to teach you the basics of swordplay with the Keyblade for now. The King or Sora can teach you more advanced moves." Riku summons his Keyblade and swings his sword around, performing a variety of techniques with it.

His execution of the swordplay appears effortless, but I know it only looks that way because it's the result of months of practice that is only granted with hard work and perseverance. It reminds me of how Paine fought in battle, her sword whistling in the air as she struck down enemies with style and grace.

Riku ceases his demonstration. "Ok, the first move I'm going to teach you is a side slash. It's simple; just slash your Keyblade out from one side to the other. Like this." He demonstrates.

I summon my Keyblade and swing it from one side to the other.

"Good. Then there's the upward slash in which you just swing your Keyblade up like you're upper cutting something with your sword." He demonstrates the move. I perform this as well.

"Nice," Riku compliments me.

The rest of the lesson goes like that, Riku instructing me on how to do a move and I successfully performing it to his approval.

When I get those basics down, he teaches me how to string combos together, like side slash, side slash, upward swing, and side slash, side slash, spin 360 degrees, and then another side slash.

Then, Riku and I have a mock fight that moves deliberately slow so he can guide me through the steps. We're moving in slow motion so as not to hurt one another, but Riku really has nothing to worry about with me as his opponent.

"Ok, side slash…"I do one. "Thrust…"I obey. "Now raise your guard, I'm coming in to attack." Riku brings his Keyblade down at me in a downwards blow that aims for my head, and I raise my Keyblade in the air to block the move.

"Spin out, bend down a little, and come up for an upward swing." I spin out in an astonishingly graceful circle, bend my knees, and lash out at Riku with an upward swing which he easily blocks.

"Nice job. But don't be afraid to add some force into your blows. You should add some more power to your swings."

I do what Riku tells me and add some power to my strikes as he coaches me through the motions of swordplay. The swordplay isn't as hard as I thought it would be however, and I call Riku out on it.

"Hey, I thought you said this would be the hard part?" I tease playfully.

The corners of Riku's mouth turn up a little in what I suppose to be a smile. "Hmm." He crosses his arms over his chest. "You picked up the moves quicker than I thought you would. I thought losing your memories would have regressed you to when you first started learning how to use the Keyblade. But I guess I was wrong. Guess it is muscle memory like the King said."

He puts away his Keyblade. "Anyways, that's enough for today. Day 1 of training is complete."

A huge weight tumbles from my shoulders and I let out a long sigh. "Good." I stretch my arms. "My arms were getting a little tired."

Riku withdraws into the Tower while I sit down on the steps. I stare out into the distance, viewing the yellow hills floating around the island.

A part of me feels a little anxious. I can't explain the exact feeling, but a part of me doesn't feel ready for all this. The traveling to distant worlds sounds fun, but the fighting of the Heartless that comes with it makes me a little…nervous.

When I left Spira, I was ready to embrace my past, but now that I'm confronted with the real truth of it, I'm not as excited about it as I thought I would be. I don't regret my decision of leaving Spira, not for one second, but I just wish all this was easier. The weeks I spent searching for spheres with Yuna, Rikku, and Paine didn't prepare me for anything of this.

I'm so deep in thought that I don't hear Riku come back.

"Here," he says. I jump, turning around just in time to catch a juicy red apple he casually throws my way.

"Oh. Thanks," I smile graciously. I was starting to feel a little hungry.

"No problem." Riku takes a seat on the other side of the step I'm on and leans back over the ones behind him, an elbow on a step behind him. He lazily bites into his apple, taking a big hunk out of it. He looks at me when he's done swallowing.

"Everything ok? You looked pretty deep in thought." He takes another bite from his apple.

I stare down at the red apple in my hands. "It's just…Honestly, I'm a little uneasy about things," I admit, playing with the apple, turning it over. Riku doesn't say anything; he just waits for me to continue.

"When I saw the Heartless for the first time in Spira, I was a little terrified." I let out a short laugh and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. "I know it probably sounds stupid, but after that I never wanted to see those creatures again." I stop playing around with the apple.

"And now I'm going to have to face them again. I guess I'll get used to it after a while; after all, I used to do this all the time. But it's hard jumping back into something that I have no memories to rely on." I finish talking, lifting up the apple to my mouth and take a tiny bite out of it, staring out at the sky again.

Riku remains silent for a few more seconds. He takes another bite out of his apple, chewing slowly.

"You know, you haven't changed much," he finally says.

I swivel my head at him. "What do you mean?"

"When we first started going to other worlds, you were a little apprehensive about fighting the Heartless. Not as much as you were now, but the fears were still there. But if I, or Sora, or anyone you wanted to protect was in trouble, you forgot about all of that and rushed in to save them."

"When you came back here, I thought there might be a possibility you might have changed due to your memory loss, but…you're still the same Kairi. A little less bold, but that'll probably soon change." He turns his blue-green eyes at me, smiling.

"And don't worry about the Heartless. They're not scary. At least I don't think so. Sure they're denizens of the darkness, but you don't have to fear them. Especially not the Shadows; they're super-easy to beat. You'll do just fine. Besides, you got me and Sora to back you up. We'll be right there by your side. "

It's then I realize I'm worried about nothing. I'm not going into the worlds all by myself; I have my two best friends next to me. We would look out for each other and watch each other's backs.

"Thank you, Riku," I say with gratitude in my voice. "I needed that."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Speaking of friends…

"Where's Sora? I haven't seen him anywhere." I was half-expecting to see his bright, cheery face showing up during my training, but he remains nowhere to be seen.

Riku sighs, almost doing an eye roll. "That lazy bum is probably still sleeping. He's always sleeping. He's one of the most laziest people I've ever met."

"Oh right, I remember you saying something about that before. He would always take a nap on the beach when we were supposed to be working on the raft." Riku told me plenty of times Sora blew off working to take naps. Apparently Sora could fall asleep at any given moment. One time he took a nap in the bathroom of Riku's house. Riku just walked in and there was Sora, curled up on the tiles, sleeping away. Riku still had no idea what happened.

"Trust me, you'll see plenty more of Sora napping when there's work to be done." There's a mischievous grin on Riku's face now. "Wanna go splash some cold water on him to wake him up?"

I grin back at him. "Wow, Riku. I didn't think you were the mischievous type." He simply shrugs, as if to say, _What can you do about it? _

I guess there's a mischievous side to me as well, because I say, "Let's do it."

xxxxx

Elven Princess01: In the last chapter, you probably didn't even notice it but I mistakenly called the Star Shard Star Shade. I just wanted to clear that up. I already did the edits for that, so you won't be seeing that anymore.

ElvenPrincess01: …no one's here? In that case, I'll just close out this chapter by saying—

Sora: Good news! I found my hair gel!

ElvenPrincess01: Um, what happened to your hair? And why does it look so…flat?

Sora: I told you, I don't get these fabulous-looking spikes by doing nothing. It takes maintenance.

ElvenPrincess01: Well hurry up and apply your hair gel. I'm not used to seeing you like this.

Sora: On it! *applies hair gel generously* Better?

ElvenPrincess01: Much. Now as I was saying, thanks for reading! See you next time!

xxxxx


	6. So Far So Great

Sora: Hello there, FanFiction universe! I'm going to be—

ElvenPrincess01: Get out of the chair, Sora.

Sora: Aw, man *gets off chair, pouting*

ElvenPrincess01: *sits down and clears throat* Hello there, FanFiction universe! Chapter 6 is up! Sorry for the wait, but I went back to look at the previous chapters and there were some grammar errors that I just couldn't ignore. I also made some minor changes, added in a sentence or two to make things clearer, but nothing major, so if you've already read the first five chapters, you don't need to go back and read them.

But anyways, I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts in any shape or form. Enjoy!

xxxxx

Previous Chapter

It's then I realize I'm worried about nothing. I'm not going into the worlds all by myself; I have my two best friends next to me. We would look out for each other and watch each other's backs.

"Thank you, Riku," I say with gratitude in my voice. "I needed that."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Speaking of friends…

"Where's Sora? I haven't seen him anywhere." I was half-expecting to see his bright, cheery face showing up during my training, but he remains nowhere to be seen.

Riku sighs, almost doing an eye roll. "That lazy bum is probably still sleeping. He's always sleeping. He's one of the most laziest people I've ever met."

"Oh right, I remember you saying something about that before. He would always take a nap on the beach when we were supposed to be working on the raft." Riku told me plenty of times Sora blew off working to take naps. Apparently Sora could fall asleep at any given moment. One time he took a nap in the bathroom of Riku's house. Riku just walked in and there was Sora, curled up on the tiles, sleeping away. Riku still had no idea what happened.

"Trust me, you'll see plenty more of Sora napping when there's work to be done." There's a mischievous grin on Riku's face now. "Wanna go splash some cold water on him to wake him up?"

I grin back at him. "Wow, Riku. I didn't think you were the mischievous type." He simply shrugs as if to say, What can you do about it?

I guess there's a mischievous side to me as well, because I say, "Let's do it."

Chapter 6: So Far So Great

So with day one of training done, it's now on to day two. I'm going to be doing something completely different from swordplay training with Riku. Today, I'm going to be learning magic from King Mickey himself.

But instead of the familiar sights of the shrubbery lining the Tower's courtyard where I practiced with Riku yesterday, the King and I travel to Traverse Town.

It's a town comprised of the remnants of worlds that were lost to darkness, and a sanctuary for people whose worlds were destroyed due to the Heartless. Anyone whose world was destroyed by the Heartless and survived the destruction ends up here.

It's a quiet and calm town, with street lamps casting a glow on the streets and alleyways and bright stars glistening over the town. But the King and I are on a business visit, and before I can gaze around any further, The King whisks me to what he calls the Magician's Study, where Merlin used to live.

We're en route to the Study in the Third District when we are attacked by the same Heartless that I saw in Spira.

Maybe it was because I defeated these types of Heartless before that I (almost) didn't waver when they appear out of nowhere in front of us from shadowy silhouettes on the ground, twisting this way and that wildly.

But I don't expect for them to come out nowhere like that without anyone beckoning them forward like Pete. My startled state forces a slow reaction out of me whereas the King immediately rushes in at them like a pro.

He takes care of most of them, leaving me to gape in rapt fascination as he flips through the air with expert agility, bringing his Keyblade down on the foes in the perfect combination of grace and power. Seconds later, I realize this is not a demonstration and I'm supposed to be helping.

It's too late for that however and I only take down a couple of the creatures before the King finishes off the last one.

"You ok, Kairi?" He asks. He knows I'm still new to all this.

"Yeah…I wasn't expecting them to just pop out of nowhere like that…"

"The Keyblade is like a homing beacon for the Heartless," the King explains as we resume walking to Merlin's old place. "As a Keyblade wielder, ya have to deal with random attacks by the Heartless. Plus, the Third District is always overrun with Heartless. Ya have to keep your eyes peeled."

"Oh, joy," I grumble sarcastically. No wonder the King charged so quickly into battle; he was used to stuff like this.

We finally reach Merlin's old place, standing in front of a door with a picture of a small flame on it. The King fires a fireball from his Keyblade at the door, and the door opens up for us, like we entered in a passcode. We tramp up the stairs to the upper level of the residence.

The King and I stop in a large, wide and empty room, giving us plenty of elbow room to move around.

There's a noise and Merlin appears in front of us in a puff of smoke.

"Oh goodie!" He exclaims. "You're right on time. Mickey, Kairi." He nods at each of us when he says our names.

"Shall we get started?" The King asks.

"Of course!" Merlin promptly snaps his fingers and all of a sudden, items of furniture like dressers and tables materialize all around us, dancing as they levitate in the air. Now I'm really wondering what exactly I'm going to have to do in today's training.

Merlin moves off to the side of the room, leaving me with the mouse.

"So Kairi...are you ready?" He has a pleasant smile on his face.

"Yes, I am," I reply. "I can't wait for today's lesson." I'm really curious to see what magic spells I can pull off. Ever since I learned I could perform magic, I've been super excited to get to this part of my training.

I had seen some magic performed in Spira, but I never would have dreamed that I had the ability to perform some spells myself.

"Then let's get to it!" The King takes out his Keyblade, ready to jump right into things.

The blade of the King's Keyblade is blue and decorated with stars, the teeth forming a crescent moon and a star. The guard is two shooting stars and the Keychain design is a crescent moon.

I do the same, summoning my weapon at my side without even glancing at my hand, just like Riku taught me to do. I do a little cheer inside my head in victory.

"Ok, so the first spell is Fire. It's easy," the King says. He points his Keyblade at a nearby dresser and yells, "Fire!" Just like how he opened the door to this place, a blast of fire shoots out of the tip of the King's Keyblade and hits the dresser, causing it to shake.

I think the dresser will be damaged by the attack, but I am amazed to see there isn't even a scratch on it. It just rocks back, the doors flying open for a second. Then it rocks back closed. It continues to hover mid-air as if nothing happened to it.

That must be why we're practicing magic here. I can perform magic on the furniture without ruining them. Unlimited practice dummies. It's perfect.

The King turns to me when he's done. "Now you try. Just concentrate and visualize."

"Right." I nod. I stare at the dresser the King had just fired on with determination in my eyes, taking aim with my Keyblade. Taking a deep breath, I yell, "Fire!"

The attack actually works and fire comes out of my Keyblade and strikes the dresser. I'm stunned. I can't believe I actually got it to work on the first try. The fire isn't nearly as impressive as the King's, but it's a start.

"Wow! Nice job, Kairi!" The King congratulates me with a wide smile on his face. "You got it on your first try!"

"Yeah. It wasn't as good as yours though." I purse my lips.

"Aww, it was only your first try. Just keep practicing it and you'll get it." Either he's trying to be nice, or he's genuinely sincere; I still appreciate it all the same.

When I first met the King, I wasn't sure how to act around him. Because he was a king, I thought I would have to bow to him at all times or kiss his ring or something. But I quickly found out that he was pretty easygoing and I didn't need to be overly formal with him. And he didn't expect Sora, Riku or me to be overly formal with him either.

"Now the upgraded version of Fire is Firaga. It's even more powerful."

The King takes aim with his Keyblade at the same dresser and shouts,"Firaga!" An even bigger fireball emerges from his Keyblade and hits the dresser. However, this time when it's struck by the King's attack, it disappears.

"You try," he commands me.

I raise my Keyblade and take aim at a tall dancing chair and concentrate, trying to make up for my last attempt of casting Fire.

"Firaga!" I'm pleased to see that my ball of fire is just as big as the King's, and it strikes the chair. It disappears into thin air just like the dresser.

"Nice job!" The King beams. "I think we can move onto the next spell. This one is named Blizzard. Blizzard!" He cries as he aims at a chair. A spreading burst of ice crystals shoot out in front of the King and hit the chair. The attack simply shakes it without causing any real harm.

Hmm...Seems simple enough. My latest success with Firaga is making me a little more confident in my magical abilities.

"Blizzard!" Ice crystals sprout out of my Keyblade and assail the chair.

"Great! Then there's Blizzaga," the King says. Just like Firaga in relation to Fire, Blizzaga unleashes larger ice crystals, effectively "destroying" the chair.

I attempt this as well and achieve similar results to when I casted Firaga.

Next the King teaches me how to cast the Thunder and Thundaga spells. He has me stand away from him as he lifts his Keyblade over his head and rains thunderbolts down from above him, as if there's an invisible raincloud above him.

The powerful bolts of electricity destroy all the furniture levitating around him. They are promptly replaced with new furniture in the blink of an eye.

Aero and Aeroga come next, which both create brief whirlwinds that blow the furniture away from us. The King explains to me that these attacks can help in deflecting certain attacks. I make a mental note of that.

Then there is Magnet and Magnera. Like casting the Thunder and Thundaga spells, the King elevates his Keyblade above his head once more and summons a purplish-white magnetic vortex above him that draws in nearby furniture, obliterating them as they came into contact with the vortex of doom.

When cast, Reflect and Reflega produce a transparent dome made of hexagonal shapes that encase the user in a shield. It can also be used to deflect certain attacks like Aero, and like its name suggests, if used at the right time, it can be used to reflect attacks back at the attacker. I also make a mental note of that one.

The King tells me after my first failed attempt at protecting myself with a shield that Reflect magic is an advanced type of magic, so it's not easy to learn. I'm barely able to form a shield around my body on the fourth attempt. He tells me to keep practicing.

And then the King moves onto the next spell, but he doesn't demonstrate it.

"The last basic spell is Cure, which is used as a healing technique to heal yourself if ya get hurt during battle," he informs me.

"I can heal myself? Just like that?"

"Yes, but you won't be able to use it 'just like that'. Cure is one of those spells that you can only use so much in battle before ya have to wait a while to use it again. So don't use it too often," he advises. "It's a good idea to keep potions and such on hand."

"So what's next?" I ask. It feels like our training lesson is coming to an end by the way the King is speaking. Magic training didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would, but I know it won't be that easy. There has to be something else. I just hope I don't have to fight the King one-on-one.

Instead of answering my question, he makes eye contact with Merlin. "Merlin?"

The wizard immediately understands, nodding his head. I guess they had planned the next step in my instruction out beforehand.

"Right." Merlin snaps his fingers and the items of furniture levitating around the King and I begin dancing around more. They flit from one spot to the next.

"Now it's time for you to apply what ya learned," the King smiles. "Just use the magic I taught you to get rid of all the furniture in this room. I'll tell you when to stop."

My eyes sweep the room, glancing at the tables, chairs and dressers all circling around me. "You mean…all that furniture?"

"Yep. I need to see what ya learned so far. It's just a little test. Just relax and do your magic." On that note, he leaves my side and joins Merlin at his side.

"You can go when you're ready!"

"Okay." Glancing up at the furniture, I try to think out a battle plan.

I have Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, and Magnet as my attack spells. Aero is used to push enemies and attacks away. Reflect defends yourself from attacks. I guess I don't really need Aero or Reflect, since I don't think the furniture is going to attack me…I cast a wary eye at a couple of chairs, just in case though.

Ok, Kairi. This is simple. It's just furniture. You can handle this.

I eye a chair to my right and point my Keyblade at it. "Fire!" I shout. A burst of fire comes out and blasts the chair in a direct hit. I fire another shot at it, and another one, and it disappears, not being able to withstand any more damage.

Pleased with that, I move onto the next target. I see a couple of tea kettles twirling around in front of me from side to side. I set off a Blizzard spell at one of them but I miss. I try again and fail once more.

Pausing for a moment, an imaginary light bulb appears over my head as I come to the conclusion that since I'm facing a moving target with a fixed pattern of motion, I shouldn't fire an attack at where it is, but where it would be in a second.

The tactic works to my advantage and I get rid of both kettles with perfectly-timed Blizzaga attacks.

I progress like that, using the spells the King educated me on. At one point during the test, at Merlin's command, all the furniture drifts closer to me, spinning around me rapidly like a whirlwind.

They're trying to throw me off. Overwhelmed, I turn my head left and right, not sure which piece of furniture to go after first.

An idea springs into my mind as I remember the Thunder magic spells. I raise my Keyblade over my head.

"Thunder!" Flashing bolts of lightning descend on some of the pieces of furniture. For the pieces that remain, I use a Magnet spell to draw them into the magnetic vortex that obliterates them.

I'm having a blast, practicing magic like this, defeating furniture item after furniture item. Being able to cast magic like this excites me more and more with each spell I pull off. I train with the furniture for a few more minutes until the King says, "Ok Kairi! You can stop now."

A pang of disappointment briefly flashes through me at having the fun cut so short as the furnishings becomes stationary, sinking slowly to the ground at Merlin's command. All the items disappear a moment later. The King strides over to me.

"Well done! That was excellent!" He praises me with a broad smile stretching across his face.

"It was?"

"You picked up the magic spells faster than I would have thought. And ya did a great job against the furniture. But you do have a penchant for magic so I guess that's why. I guess the memory loss didn't affect your natural abilities."

"Huh. I guess not." I admit I was a bit nervous about the training week before it started. I never fought in combat before and I wasn't sure what to expect. But I did surprisingly well in swordplay yesterday, and I did even better in magic today. Looks like I was worried for nothing.

Then again, I only did two days of training, and those were just the basics. According to Sora, we were set to take our Mark of Mastery exams before I disappeared. Which meant I was at a much more advanced state than what I was at currently. Who knew what might be in store for the other days?

"That's all I'll teach you for today," the King says. "When we get back to the Tower, there's a book I want ya to read."

"Book? What kind of book?"

"It's in Master Yen Sid's study. It talks about the Heartless, Keyblades, and more. I want you to read up on it so you can be prepared for when ya go into battle."

A frown etches itself onto his face, a far cry from the gleeful smile he usually presents. "If what Master Yen Sid said was true about the darkness spreadin', then the battles may get a little harder. You'll need to be at the top of your game. Memories or not."

Top of my game, huh? I think. I am a bit curious about these Heartless creatures and the Keyblade itself. I haven't learned too much about those subjects since I returned to the Mysterious Tower. Reading the book would be a great way to get the answers I needed.

xxxxx

After saying thank you and goodbye to Merlin, the King and I travel back to the Tower where Master Yen Sid hands me a large tome off one of the bookshelves in his study. It's a large, simple and aqua blue-colored book that feels a little heavy in my hands. The words The Complete Keyblade Wielder's Guide are sprawled across the cover in elegant script.

Master Yen Sid reveals to me that a former Keyblade Master wrote the book, and it had been in his possession on his bookshelf for quite some time.

Taking the book back to my room, I curl up on my bed, getting comfortable. I didn't get to do much reading in Spira but it was something I enjoyed doing when I had the opportunity to do so.

Unsurprisingly, the book starts out with a chapter on Keyblades. I begin to read.

"Keyblades are mysterious weapons that can be summoned and dispelled at will. Generally speaking, all Keyblades share the same central features, modeled after a key: a guard with a handle, a hilt and a head at the end of the shaft that resembles the teeth of a skeleton key."

"The Keyblade chooses its wielder instead of the other way around, and it only chooses people with strong hearts. People with strong enough hearts are able to give or take Keyblades from others, or take possession of one if it has been abandoned. If someone does not have the right kind of heart, they cannot wield a Keyblade, regardless if a wielder hands it to him or her to hold."

"People become Keyblade wielders in the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony, or the Bequeathing. A Keyblade wielder of Master status can choose someone to inherit the power to summon and wield a Keyblade. If the Keyblade accepts the inheritor, then he or she will be able to call forth their own Keyblade whenever they try to do so. However, I have discovered that inheritance can be passed on accidentally. If someone with a strong heart accidentally touches a wielder's Keyblade, it will give them the ability to wield one."

Sora did say that he, Riku and I had the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony performed on us when we were little, right after I arrived on Destiny Islands, though we never figured out the men who performed the ceremony were.

"The Keyblade holds many different powers. Its signature ability, as its name suggests, is that it can open or close any door or lock. It can also unlock the hearts to worlds, or lock, unlock or extract someone's heart. "

"Keyblades are natural mediums for performing a variety of magic. Wielders can use elemental magic to inflict greater damage on their enemies. Keyblades can also be used to channel the forces of light or darkness for the wielder."

"The weapons are especially effective against the Heartless, since they are connected to hearts and darkness. The Keyblade is the only weapon that can completely destroy the Heartless. If another weapon is used to dispatch of a creature, then it will simply reappear somewhere else."

There was more information on the subject of Keyblades before it segued its way to the next chapter in the book: the Heartless.

"Heartless are beings of darkness, first originating from the Realm of Darkness. They are born from the darkness in people's hearts. Heartless are created when someone's heart has been consumed by darkness, giving the darkness shape and form, thus turning them into a Heartless. They can also be created when someone has their heart taken by the Heartless."

"Heartless are mindless creatures and react purely on instinct. Their main desire is to capture more hearts so they can create more Heartless. For that purpose, they attack innocent people, but even greater than their desire to turn people into Heartless is their desire for the hearts of worlds."

"They will invade a world and look for the heart of the world. If they find the heart, they will devour it, and send the world into destruction."

"Heartless seek out the users of Keyblades because the Keyblade has the power to lock and unlock hearts. The Keyblade is used as a homing beacon for the Heartless to find the wielder and consume the heart of the one who wields it. Due to this fact, Keyblade wielders are always under constant attack, and must be on guard at all times." Perfect. Just perfect.

"Heartless travel around worlds using Corridors of Darkness, inter-dimensional pathways that connect all the worlds. But since these Corridors are located in the Realm of Darkness, they are very dangerous for someone who isn't acclimated to the darkness, and they will be put at major risk if they use them frequently and carelessly." That line reminds me of when Sora first landed in Spira, carelessly using a Corridor of Darkness.

Following the general descriptions of the Heartless are highly detailed drawings of each of the different types of Heartless, provided with a summary of each Heartless type, which includes name, strengths, weaknesses, and more.

The first picture is of the Heartless Cat Dude summoned when I encountered him in Spira and the ones the King and I encountered in Traverse Town. In fact, they're the only Heartless I'd seen so far in person. The one in the drawing stares back out at me with yellow bulbous eyes.

"The Shadow" was headlined in bold letters at the top of the page. Below it the text reads, "The most basic type of Heartless, found in many different places. Has the ability to flatten itself into a silhouette on the ground, becoming a literal shadow. Attacks with a simple but vicious claw strike. Easy to beat alone but it can be slightly more challenging when numbers of them swarm. I have found the Thunder spell to be useful in situations like these."

I flip the page to see a Heartless with a more humanoid structure than the Shadow, and much taller, probably taller than me, but it still has the same pitch black skin and glowing yellow eyes. Long and crooked antennae stretch out from the sides of its head.

But that's all the Shadow and this Heartless have in common. This Heartless is more muscular, and it has very large hands and long feet.

"The Neoshadow. Stronger and faster than its Shadow counterpart. A little more difficult to beat than Shadows since they are more strategic in battle, lacking some of the impulsiveness other Heartless possess. Attacks include jumping into the air, spinning, and launching themselves at their opponent, and basic melee strikes. They will sink back into the floor to avoid attacks, much like the Shadows."

I flip through more pages of the book, looking at all the different Heartless. My head spins at all the various types of Heartless there are. When I was in Spira I thought that the Shadows were the only type of Heartless there were, but that obviously is not the case.

There are Red Nocturnes, Heartless that utilize fire magic; Blue Rhapsodies that use Blizzard magic; Air Soldiers that fly around and deliver quick attacks at any given moment; Darkballs which go into a "berserk state" in which they rock around a limited area and attack anything in their way; Large Bodies, that have a variety of strong attacks and can only be damaged from the back, and many, many more kinds of Heartless.

I endeavor to learn as much as I can, since I have to go against these types of Heartless when I start to voyage to other worlds. It would be very bad for me to make the mistake of using Fire magic against a Red Nocturne when, according to the text, I would actually end up healing them since they employ fire magic.

One of the Heartless that stands out to me is the Darkside. It's a highly massive creature, humanoid in structure, and very muscular. Its legs are somewhat short and its feet are thin and curled upward, though its long arms make up for its short legs.

Small, twisted wings sprout out from its back and a gaping heart-shaped hole is located in its abdominal area. It looks a little intimidating; however, the author of the book says that the Darkside isn't that hard to beat. All you have to is move around a lot to avoid its attacks.

My interest is piqued when I see a chapter on the Princesses of Heart later in the book. There isn't much in the section though, at least not much that I didn't already get from the other Princesses.

I do discover that Princesses of Heart can use Corridors of Darkness without sustaining any negative effects due to our hearts of pure light that can't be corrupted by darkness.

The guidebook is very entertaining to me, just like I was expecting, but when I move a leg and find it fell asleep, I decide it's time to take a much-needed break. Before I can catch myself I take a peep out the window to get a gauge on what the time is before I remember that the sky always looks the same.

And I suppose I had read enough for now anyways. My brain's starting to hurt a little from trying to process and memorize so much information.

As I leave my room to stretch my legs by walking around a bit, I see Sora leaving Master Yen Sid's study.

"Hi Sora!" I wave. I didn't see too much of him the past couple days since he was apparently doing some training of his own. He's been preparing for the Mark of Mastery exam, though when we would have the chance to take it was a mystery to me. It all depended on how fast I could recover my memories.

He grins at me. "Hey Kairi! What's up?"

"Just doing a bit of reading. What are you up to?"

"Well..."Sora places his arms behind his head. "I was planning on going to Twilight Town to get some sea-salt ice cream. I haven't had any in a while."

Twilight Town. That was the name of the place where you could take a special train to get here, the train that rides the railway I was so curious about when I first arrived here.

"Can I come with?" I ask. Taking a trip to Twilight Town to try this sea-salt ice cream seems to be the perfect way to reward myself after studying.

"Of course! You must have forgotten what sea-salt ice cream tasted like. We should refresh your memory."

"Is Riku coming?"

"Nah." Sora lowers his arms to his sides. "Riku doesn't like sea-salt ice cream." He shakes his head in mock shame. "Come on, let's go."

Sora and I take the Gummi ship. He flies it since I have no experience in doing so. I watch him as he drives so I would be able to drive the ship in the future. It seems easy enough. There aren't a lot of controls so it doesn't look too difficult.

Sora lands the ship just outside the town in a clearing within the woods. After we get out we pace along the pathway, framed by tall leafy trees, before emerging through a large hole in a wall into the town itself.

I can see why it's called Twilight Town. The sky's a yellowish-orange and red, and the sun glows softly from its place in the sky. Sora tells me that the sun stays in that same spot all the time, the town caught in an endless sunset. Just like the sky overlooking the Mysterious Tower that doesn't change at all.

Twilight Town appears to be a small, quiet town, like Traverse Town. Like one of those towns where everyone and their grandmother knew one another, and everyone formed a pretty close-knit community with each other.

The streets are long and winding, some of them steeply sloped almost like a hill. A grand clock tower at one side of the town rises towards the sky.

The place where Sora and I emerge into is called Tram Common, an open-market area with a bunch of shops and some people milling about casually, not in a rush to get anywhere.

"Let's go get some ice cream," Sora says, and he leads me to one of the shops, where a bright-faced vendor sells him two sea-salt ice creams.

"Wow, it does look good," I comment, examining the snack as I take the stick from Sora's hands.

"Wait till you eat it."

I begin eating it, letting the flavor pour down my throat. The ice cream lives up to its name; it's salty and sweet, neither one of the tastes overpowering each other, creating a perfect flavor. I can't understand why Riku doesn't like this. It's amazing.

"It's delicious." I lick my lips in satisfaction and smile. Sora smiles back at me.

"Here, there's something I want to show you," he says.

He guides me up to the top of the clock tower where we sit, gazing out at the sunset sky.

"Wow," I breathe as I stare out at the horizon. The sight is stunning. The sunset is even more beautiful up here. Sora and I have the perfect view, not only of the sky, but of the quaint little town below us. I look down at the tops of the perfectly-shaped houses and buildings below us. A soft breeze rolls through, adding to the peaceful and idyllic atmosphere.

Sora and I sit there in silence for a minute or two, just enjoying each other's company, the great ice cream, and the even greater view before he breaks the silence.

"So how was training today?" He licks his ice cream.

"Great. The King taught me how to do magic."

"What he'd teach you?"

"Just the basics. Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Magnet, Reflect, and Cure. I practiced them on some furniture Merlin provided.

"He didn't teach you any advanced magic techniques or combo attacks?

"Nope," I answer before resuming the eating of my ice cream. "Why? Are you going to teach me?"

Sora sighs as he takes another lick of the blue treat. "Honestly, it should be the other way around. Between you, me and Riku, you were always the best when it came to magic."

"And...Riku was the best when it came to swordplay?" I tease, grinning as I recall Riku's bragging words from yesterday.

Sora turns his head sharply to look at me. "Did he tell you that?! I was better than him when it came to swordplay, not the other way around!" Yep, the two of them were rivals, no doubt about it.

I laugh at his reaction. "Calm down. You guys are both great. Let's just say that, ok?"

Sora mutters something under his breath about getting back at Riku, but lets it go. He eats more of his ice cream which seems to have a calming effect on him.

I sigh in contentment. "This is a really nice place."

"Yeah. We used to come here every once in a while just to relax in between saving the worlds. The last time we were here was just a couple weeks before you..." Sora trails off. I know what he was about to say.

"Before I lost my memories," I finish where he left off.

"Yeah..." His voice carries a hint of displeasure in it.

"Well...if it's any consolation..." I swing my legs back and forth. "I've been getting some of them back."

Shock shows up on Sora's face. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah." I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. "I actually experienced a couple of my memories in my dreams back in Spira. And I remembered something a couple days ago. Who knows?" I shrug. "Maybe if we wait long enough, I'll eventually get them all back."

Sora can't help but grin in happiness. "That's great, Kairi! I knew they couldn't be completely gone." His face drops slightly. "Wish there was a way to speed up the process though."

"Hey, only time can tell, right? Guess I'll just have to take it one day at a time."

At that moment I remember there's something I wanted to ask Sora about.

"Hey Sora, after I finished training with the King, he had me read a book, The Complete Keyblade Wielder's Guide."

"Yeah, we all read it. What about it?"

"Well it talked about the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony and how inheritance is passed from one Keyblade wielder to a successor. I know you said the three of us were made Keyblade wielders when we were much younger. I was wondering if you remembered what the people who performed the ceremony on us looked like."

"Hmm..."Sora thinks hard, his forehead creasing in concentration. "You know...I don't really remember. Neither does Riku...But, I do remember that one of them had black hair and...a mustache..."

"Uh-huh..." I was kinda hoping for more information than that.

"Hey, we were only four or five at the time!" Sora defends himself. "The details are a bit fuzzy. I do want to see them again." There's a thoughtful look in his eyes. "They gave us the ability to wield Keyblades and pretty much changed our lives. I want to meet them again."

"Hmm…" I stare up at the twilight sky, envisioning space all laid out above us. "There must really be a lot of worlds out there for us never to see any Keyblade wielders…have we?" I try to think if Riku or Sora had mentioned any other wielders when they were talking about the past with me.

"Nope." Sora shakes his head. " We've never come across any. Yen Sid knew some, but that was a long time ago." I ponder for a moment about how many Keyblade wielders there are in the worlds currently. Were there a lot of us, or just several of us? The King, Sora, Riku, and I couldn't be the only Keyblade wielders in all the worlds.

Sora and I stay up on the clock tower, just talking and laughing with another for a while, even after we've already consumed our ice cream and get seconds.

He tells me stories about the adventures he, Riku and I had on our journeys and back home on Destiny Islands, and I tell him a few about the stuff I did with Yuna, Rikku, and Paine.

Once we're done with seconds of the utterly delicious sea-salt ice cream, we decide to call it quits and head back to our Gummi ship.

While we're walking back, several Blue Rhapsodies appear out of nowhere and surround us.

It's my first time seeing non-Shadow Heartless in person, Heartless that I never fought before, but I'm not scared. These guys look pretty weak and harmless, and according to the guidebook, they are. I also feel more prepared this time around.

Even so, Sora is quicker on the draw than I am. "Heartless!" He summons his Keyblade out in front of him.

I'm about to summon mine when he says to me, "Don't. I got this one."

Raising one eyebrow in curiosity, I drop my arm back to my side, interested to see Sora handle the situation.

He raises his Keyblade towards the sky. "Firaga Burst!" He yells. A large fireball forms a few feet above Sora's head and smaller fireballs shower down from the bigger fireball, incinerating all the Heartless present into fiery oblivion.

Sora takes all the Heartless out in one attack. And a good one too. The book said Blue Rhapsodies were vulnerable to Fire magic since all they knew was Blizzard magic. That Firaga Burst move Sora performed does the trick.

"Whoa...That was pretty cool," I compliment him. That must have been one of the "advanced magic techniques" he mentioned earlier.

Sora places his hands behind his head, looking slightly cocky. "It was nothing."

"Are you training me tomorrow? In those 'advanced magic techniques' you talked about earlier?" I ask as we trek back through the woods, trying not to trip over any branches that might be in our way.

"Of course!" Sora beams at me. "Riku and the King got to teach you, so now it's my turn."

xxxxx


	7. Stepping It Up

_Previous Chapter_

_Sora takes all the Heartless out in one attack. And a good one too. The book said Blue Rhapsodies were vulnerable to Fire magic since all they knew was Blizzard magic. That Firaga Burst move Sora performed does the trick._

_"Whoa...That was pretty cool," I compliment him. That must have been one of the "advanced magic techniques" he mentioned earlier._

_Sora places his hands behind his head, looking slightly cocky. "It was nothing."_

_"Are you training me tomorrow? In those 'advanced magic techniques' you talked about earlier?" I ask as we trek back through the woods, trying not to trip over any branches that might be in our way. _

_"Of course!" Sora beams at me. "Riku and the King got to teach you, so now it's my turn."_

**Chapter 7: Stepping It Up**

_Sora, Riku, and I were lying on the beach side by side, staring up at the starry sky. Our eyes are focused on the stars twinkling far off beyond our reach. We watched in comfortable silence as the minutes ticked by. _

_"The stars look really beautiful tonight," I noted._

_"Yeah," Riku agreed._

_"I wonder if they're any worlds out there that see the same sky we do," Sora thought aloud._

_Riku snorted as if Sora had said something stupid. "Of course they're other worlds out there. Where do you think Kairi came from?"_

_"Oh...right."_

_Riku continued. "Kairi didn't come from Destiny Islands; she came from another world. Question is what world? And how do we get there?"_

_Both Sora and I looked at Riku. "You want to travel to other worlds?"_

_"Of course. I mean, don't you want to as well? We can figure out where Kairi came from. And see other worlds as well."_

_Sora looked back up at the sky. "It does sound pretty cool..."_

_We sat in silence again._

_"So Kairi," Sora piped up. "You don't remember anything about your hometown?"_

_I shook my head in the sand. "Nope. Not a thing. I'm pretty happy here though. Still, I _would _like to know where I came from. Just to know."_

_"Hmm...but how could we get there?" Sora mused._

_"We could take a raft," Riku suggested._

_"A raft?" Sora's tone is full of disbelief. "Could a raft really get us there?"_

_"Who knows? If we have to, we'll try something else." _

_"I don't know..."_

_A shooting star suddenly streaked across the sky. I'd never seen one in real-life before. I gasped in astonishment. "A shooting star! Let's make a wish!"_

_I closed my eyes shut and thought real hard. _I wish there was a way for us to get off this island and see other worlds out there_. _

_I was sure Sora and Riku thought the same thing too. _

**xxxxx**

I wake up from my dream hearing the distant sound of voices outside.

Well technically, it wasn't a dream; it was more like a memory from long ago.

_My wish did come true after all,_ I think. _I did go and see other worlds out there. Though not in the way I would've expected._

"Deep freeze!" I hear Sora shout. It sounds like he's fighting someone in the courtyard. Probably Riku. We can't be under attack from Heartless.

I sit up in bed, stretching my arms towards the ceiling after the long rest I had the night before, and I take a peek out the window.

Sora and Riku are in the courtyard with their Keyblades drawn, sparring with one another. From my position at the top of the tower, they look a lot smaller than what they really are, like little toy soldiers.

They trade quick and sharp blows with their Keyblades, before Riku jumps back and launches a Fire attack. Sora nimbly rolls out of the way, dodging the attack completely_. _

The two of them look like they're pretty equal in terms of skills. Neither one of them is able to get a real edge on the other. Neither one of them seems to be tired either, which makes me wonder as to how long they're going to continue fighting.

Wanting to get a better look at their duel for educational purposes, I stroll out of my room and down the steps the noises from outside getting louder and louder as I approach the front doors.

I pull open a door and step outside, trying to close it gently and quietly behind me, but I fail in my attempt at stealth, and the door slams shut behind me, making me wince.

Sora's attention is torn from the fight by the sound, his eyes flashing my way, and Riku doesn't hesitate to take advantage of the distraction.

He has the tip of his Keyblade pointed at Sora in the next second, and before Sora's mind can return to the match, he simply mutters, "Aero."

A gust of wind rockets Sora backwards, sending him flying several feet.

"Oof!" He exclaims as he lands on his back with a thud. He attempts to scramble back onto his feet, but Riku's too quick. Before Sora can get his Keyblade up in the air in time, Riku stands over him, his Keyblade aimed at Sora's neck.

He smirks victoriously. "I win."

Sora's jaw drops. "No fair! I was distracted!" Maybe I had come out at the wrong time.

Riku dematerializes his Keyblade and steps back as Sora hurries to his feet.

"Hey, a win is a win. You know that," Riku counters, not wanting to accede to the fact that he won only because Sora was distracted.

"So this makes our record what again? How many wins are we at?" Riku asks.

"I dunno; I stopped keeping count after a while."

"Why?" Riku crosses his arms over his chest as a devilish smile appears on his face. "Because you were losing?"

Sora glares embers at his best friend and he huffs. "No! It is not!"

"If you say so," Riku snorts. Sora fumes on the spot.

Riku finally looks my way. "Oh, hey Kairi," he greets.

Sora immediately stops bristling as he remembers that I'm still there. The expression on his face completely changes. "Hi Kairi!" He grins.

"Hi!" I greet back, stepping down the stairs. "Sorry about the door."

"It's no problem," Sora assures me, even though he had just lost his fight and was worked about it. "It's not your fault."

"I'll go get everything set up." Riku moves to shuffle up the stairs, his hands in his pockets.

I throw a curious glance at Riku's back when he enters the Tower. "What kind of training are we doing today?" I assumed that since we would be doing more magic training today, we would be doing it at the same place where the King taught me yesterday, at Merlin's old house. But Riku just said he was going to "get everything set up." This meant we would be training here.

"Here, I'll show you," Sora says, leading the way into the minaret. He shows me to a room on the first floor that I'd never been in before, a wide and spacious room that's nearly the size of the Magician's Study.

There aren't any windows in here, and the only light that streams into the room comes from a few overhead lights on the ceiling.

On the left side of the room is a large computer with a control panel, blocked by a wall of glass that stretches from the ceiling to the floor. A door had been cut into it that allows access to the computer.

Riku is in there, tinkering with buttons on the control panel, his hands flying across the board.

"This is the Simulation Chamber," Sora explains as he spreads his arms out, striding to the center of the room. "Chip and Dale built the computer for us a while ago, sometime around the start of our Keyblade training to help us practice fighting Heartless."

I examine the room. "So we're going to be fighting simulated Heartless in here?"

"Exactly!"

"And how does that work?"

The question seems to stump Sora, who looks like he doesn't know how to answer it. "Uh…well…" He crosses his arms, looking deep in thought with his forehead crinkling slightly. "You know, I don't really know. Chip and Dale explained it, but I didn't really catch all of it. All I know is pressing buttons produces Heartless. I asked Riku to help out today because, well, I'm not very good with computers," Sora admits with a sheepish grin on his face, scratching the back of his head.

"What kind of Heartless are we going to be fighting?" I don't know how this simulation thingie works, but I'm sure Darksides are out of the question; they're way too big and too tall to fit into this room.

Sora's grin grows wider. "You'll see." His eyes leave mine to focus on Riku. "Hey Riku, are we ready?"

"Yeah, we're ready. What level do you want it on?"

"Put it on level 3. And generate several Shadows."

"Level 3." Riku presses a button. "It's loading."

"How many levels are there?" I ask.

"10, but we won't be getting there today. Maybe Level 7 if you're lucky." What was on Level 10? It must be difficult to beat.

There's a loud whooshing noise that seems to come from overhead that almost startles me. Several white portals stemming from the ground appear all around Sora and I. When they vanish, a Shadow Heartless is left in each one of the spots.

The simulation Heartless look and act just like real-life Heartless. In the usual manner of Shadows, they twist about on the spot, their yellow eyes flitting rapidly from one spot to the other. But they just stand there, not bothering to attack Sora or me. It's like they don't even notice us.

Sora faces me. "Ok, now the lesson can start. Summon your Keyblade," he commands. I summon mine and he does the same.

"The first spell I'm going to teach you is the spell you saw me do yesterday in Twilight Town to get rid of all those Blue Rhapsodies. Firaga Burst, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Great! So all you have to do is raise your Keyblade over your head—"Sora raises his Keyblade over his head "—and...Firaga Burst!" He yells. Just like last time, a large fireball forms over our heads and rains down smaller fireballs on the Heartless, wiping them out completely.

Another whooshing noise sounds as more white portals form and more Heartless emerge from them.

Sora lowers his weapon. "Now you try."

I take a deep breath. _Here goes…_I bring my flowery Keyblade skyward and shout, "Firaga Burst!" A great fireball flares into view and fireballs rocket out from it, destroying all the Heartless that surround Sora and I. Pleased, I lower my weapon.

"Nice, Kairi!" Sora grins at me. He moves right along to the next technique. "The next move is Mega Flare. This one is pretty bright so you might want to close your eyes. Riku, can you put in some Air Soldiers?"

The Shadow Heartless that promptly replaced the defeated computer-generated simulations are also promptly replaced with Air Soldier Heartless that levitate harmlessly in the air.

Sora points his Keyblade at one of the Heartless. "Mega Flare!" A normal-sized fireball shoots out of his Keyblade and hits one of the Air Soldiers in the chest. But this isn't an ordinary fireball; when it strikes the Heartless, it explodes, creating a blinding and distorting explosion that forces me to cover my eyes as the burst of white light temporarily blinds my vision.

When I can see again, I notice that all the Heartless in the room were destroyed in the blast, and they are being replaced by new Heartless.

"I won't ask you to do that move, since it's so blinding and we don't really use it," Sora reveals. "But I just wanted you to know it. It may come in handy one day."

I'm grateful for that decision. My eyes still sting a bit from that spell, and I rub my eyes for a second.

Sora then requests Riku to raise the level of the stimulation to Level 4, and to bring out some Creeper Plants. I hadn't gotten to these types of Heartless yet in the guide book the King instructed me to read, so I'm completely unfamiliar with them.

They have small faces, with two glowing yellow eyes, and a jagged maw. Four large flower petals border their heads, two orange and two yellow. Four orange and yellow spikes protrude from their heads.

Thin, green, vine-like necks extend from the back of their heads to their small, blue-green bodies. Four root-like legs extend from their bodies into the ground, as if there is dirt here for the roots to grow into.

"The next attack is Fire Surge." With his Keyblade in hand, Sora darts forward a short distance, surrounded by a ring of fire, attacking all the enemies in his path when they come into contact with the flames.

After we cover that move, it's now onto Aqua Splash, where one can spray melted ice at Heartless in a line.

The Judgment magic spell uses Aero magic. One can hurl the Keyblade at a group of enemies, the Keyblade turning into a boomerang that rapidly strikes the enemies multiple times. It's remarkable how the Keyblade seems to be able to sense the enemies and hit them, before coming back to my hand seconds later.

Tornado was another Aero spell, in which the user summons a mini Tornado that sweeps up any Heartless in its path and effectively stuns them, where they would be left wide open for attack.

The lesson continues much like how the King taught me magic yesterday. Sora demonstrates a technique and I perform it to the best of my ability.

I have to perform some attacks twice, sometimes three times, before I get the hang of it, but Sora is patient with me, and more than willing to go over something more than once.

The most difficult attack to learn is Raging Storm, where I have to summon three pillars of flame that would orbit me whoever I move. I manage to summon the pillars, but I can't get them to follow me, much less orbit around me.

I pout in frustration as the flame pillars once again remain static, blowing hot flames into the air, but not even budging from their spots. They eventually disappear as the time limit on the spell is reached. They do manage to take some Heartless out with them that just happened to be in the line of fire when they first appeared, but there are still some farther away that are left completely untouched.

Sora tries to comfort me when he sees my expression. "It's ok, Kairi. Raging Storm is a pretty powerful move. I didn't master it on my first try either. It took me a few tries too."

That does lift my spirits up a bit. I guess I'm not doing as bad as I think I am.

"Remember, visualization is key. Close your eyes." I give Sora a slightly amused look but do as he says.

Sora speaks in a slow, tranquil voice like we're meditating. It's a little weird seeing him so calm when he's usually so upbeat.

"Now, imagine yourself executing Raging Storm. Imagine the pillars of flame bursting into existence. You can feel their warmth soothing you, surrounding you with their heat. They're right by your side. And as you move forward, they're right with you, staying by your side. They guard you, protect you. Nothing's getting past them."

"Imagine them destroying all the enemies in front of you, burning them up with their intense flames, sending them back into the darkness they came from." Sora certainly has a way with words. I could imagine everything he said perfectly.

"Open your eyes."

I obey. "Got it?" Sora asks.

"Yeah. I think I got it." I eye the Large Bodies that are present all around me. I stare up into their yellow eyes, which are devoid of all emotion. With the visualization of the Raging Storm technique in the forefront of my mind, I lift my Keyblade over my head.

"Raging Storm!" I shout, a wave of determination rushing over me. Immediately, three pillars of angry red-orange flames burst into existence, their strong flames extending to the ceiling. The heat radiating off of them warms up my skin, soothing me comfortably.

_"And as you move forward, they're right with you, staying by your side. They guard you, protect you. Nothing's getting past them."_

Three pillars. Sora, Riku, and the King. And I am in the center.

_"Imagine them destroying all the enemies in front of you, burning them up with their intense flames, sending them back into the darkness they came from."_

I dart forward, and to my delighted amazement, the fiery pillars follow me, orbiting around me as they lay waste to all the enemies in my way.

Sora is all smiles when the attack is finished. "Good job, Kairi! You picked up the move faster than I did!"

We continue the lesson, taking breaks every once in a while to recharge. Sora tells me that magic-casting had a limit and you couldn't keep performing magic endlessly without waiting for your magic to recharge after a brief time. More powerful attacks required a slightly longer recharge time than less powerful attacks.

The King did say you couldn't cast Cure too often, which was probably a warning about magic recharging. It makes sense. Sora taught me a lot of powerful attacks. Being able to do use magic whenever one wanted and how many times one wanted would make any skilled Keyblade wielder unstoppable. There had to be some kind of limit. There was always a catch.

"Well I think that's enough for today," Sora smiles as I successfully perform another magic technique. I manage to work myself up to Level 7, which Sora said I could if I was lucky. I just finished fighting two Assault Riders, since Sora said fighting any more would be too difficult for me. Just fighting two was more than enough. They didn't go down easy. And they weren't even fighting back.

"Tomorrow we'll be back here, except the Heartless are going to be moving and actually attacking you instead of just standing there, waiting to be attacked. Since they're data projections, there's not much they can do to you. But treat them as if they were real enemies. For the rest of the training week, we'll work to improve your magic-casting and swordplay techniques, since we're going to be doing a lot of fighting when we travel to other worlds."

Riku strides over to the two of us after he powers down the simulation chamber. "Aren't you forgetting something?" He asks Sora.

Sora looks lost. "I am?" He glances away, thinking for a second or two, before returning to Riku. "What am I forgetting?"

"Don't you think we should tell Kairi about our exact mission for when we travel to other worlds?"

"Oh, right!" Sora snaps his fingers. "How could I forget?" Riku rolls his eyes. "I guess we can tell her right now. But let's sit down. My feet are killing me."

The three of us settle ourselves on the stairs outside the Tower. I get comfortable, smoothing my dress out out of wrinkles. I wait patiently for either Sora or Riku to start.

"Ok," Sora begins, "so you know we travel to distant worlds to destroy the Heartless there, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"But we don't just have to defeat the Heartless. We also have to seal the Keyhole of the world."

"The Keyhole?" I ask quizzically. I need to go back and do some more reading in the _Complete Keyblade Wielder's Guide_. This is the first time I'm hearing of a "Keyhole."

Riku takes over where Sora leaves off. "A Keyhole is a gateway in each world that leads to the heart of that world. The Heartless seek the Keyhole to a world, craving to devour it. If they succeed, they send the world into destruction and it will no longer exist." Well I remember reading that last part in the guide book.

"What we have to do is find the Keyhole and seal it," Sora says, "so that the Heartless won't be able to get to the heart of the world. And once the Keyhole is sealed, it can't be opened again."

"Heartless may still appear in the worlds even after the Keyhole has been sealed, due to the darkness in people's hearts," Riku adds, "but they won't be able to get to the Keyhole and destroy the world."

"What does this Keyhole look like?" I ask. If it's anything like I'm imagining, it would be impossible to find, let alone the Heartless. They wouldn't even be able to get inside it.

"It's looks just a regular keyhole; however, some worlds have huge Keyholes, and other worlds have smaller Keyholes," Sora answers. "It just depends. I think the guide book has a picture or two of them to show you what they look like."

"And…where exactly do we find these Keyholes?"

"Well…." Sora rattles off locations on his fingers. "The one in Traverse Town was behind the water fountain in the Second District, the one in Agrabah was in the Chamber Room in the Cave of Wonders, the one in Halloween Town was underneath the tree holding up Oogie's Manor, the one in Atlantica was in Ariel's Grotto, the one in—"

"What Sora means to say is that the Keyholes can be found anywhere," Riku interrupts. "We just have to look around for them. It may take a while, but we eventually find them."

"So once we seal them, that's it?"

Riku nods his head. "Yeah, then we travel to the next world. Sora and I will show you how to seal a Keyhole when we find one."

"Okay..." I nod slowly as I process the information. "That doesn't sound too hard." Fight Heartless, find Keyhole, seal it, travel to next world.

Wait a minute, who am I kidding? I have to fight Heartless, a bunch of them from what the guide book was getting at, and find a Keyhole who knew where.

I think about Twilight Town. It's not exactly a small place. If a world we embarked to was the size of the town, then the Keyhole could be anywhere. We could search for days and still not find a single clue. I don't voice my misgivings however.

"Nah, it's not too bad." Riku leans back against the stairs. "You get the hang of it after a while…Hmm…I still feel like we're forgetting something…"

I try to think of something to ask, and a question springs into my mind. "Oh yeah. What's the deal with this Mark of Mastery exam? What's that all about?"

"Good question," Riku remarks, straightening up again. "The Mark of Mastery exam is a test strong Keyblade wielders must take in order to become Keyblade masters."

"According to the King, the test differs among Keyblade masters administering the test to their apprentices, so there's not a standard, uniform test," Sora explains.

Exam. I wonder if that means there will be a written portion, or if it will be purely physical, where you have to show off your abilities and stuff.

"What happens after you pass?"

"Well, you have two options. You can take on apprentices and train them as Keyblade wielders, or you can go out on a journey." Sora places his hands behind his head, his trademark pose.

"Interesting..." I eye the two guys seated opposite me on the stairs. "What are you guys gonna do?"

"Huh." Sora stares thoughtfully up at the sky. "You know, I never really thought about it." He turns to our silver-haired friend. "What are you going to do, Riku?"

Riku snorts. "Do you even have to ask? I'm going on a journey. They're still a lot of worlds out there to explore." He gazes out into the sky, a wistful look in his eyes. He's most likely fantasizing about all the worlds that he hadn't yet seen.

"Yeah." Sora follows his gaze. "There sure are."

Sora and Riku cease talking, and I too gaze out into the sky overlooking the Mysterious Tower, watching the hills floating in the distance. They're just like distant worlds, just of reach.

**xxxxx**

Later that day, I continue my reading of _The_ _Complete Keyblade Wielder's Guide_. I read up more on the Heartless, Keyholes and other things, before I get to a chapter titled "The Mystery of Kingdom Hearts." Interested, I start to read.

"No one knows where Kingdom Hearts came from, but it has been here for as long as anyone can remember, acting as the heart of all worlds. Since all hearts, save for the Princesses of Heart, contain light and darkness in them, Kingdom Hearts can give someone the power of light or the power of darkness, depending on the affinity in the person's heart. But the only way this can be done is through the X Blade, the first Keyblade in existence and the most powerful one."

"Using the X Blade, the user can unleash the power of Kingdom Hearts, bringing peace and serenity, or chaos and destruction. In order to protect the peace, there have been seven Guardians of Kingdom Hearts who protect the X Blade and keep it safe using Keyblades, designed after the X Blade. When a Guardian reached old age, he or she would pick a successor and the successor would become a new Guardian in their place. This tradition continued for many generations…until one fateful day."

"Many years ago, one of the Guardians, hungry for power, betrayed the other Guardians and took the X Blade for himself, unleashing the power of darkness on the land. However, he unintentionally unleashed a new form of creatures, which seemed to come from the darkness he unleashed from Kingdom Hearts. These beings were later called Heartless. They quickly began destroying the world and traveled to other worlds to wreak havoc."

"The other Guardians banded together to stop their former teammate and managed to get the X Blade from him. After they had defeated him, they used the X Blade to bring light back to the world. Some of the light from Kingdom Hearts was transferred to the Guardians through the X Blade, purifying them of all darkness in their hearts, turning them into the first Princesses of Heart, maidens with hearts of pure light. But the damage was already done to the world Kingdom Hearts was located above, and once a beautiful and lush paradise, became savagely destroyed in the battle."

"To prevent something like this from ever happening again, the Guardians made sure to hide the X Blade, someplace no one could find so that darkness wouldn't plague the world again. The Heartless that escaped to other worlds needed to be stopped, so the Guardians, and now Princesses of Heart, traveled to other lands, destroying Heartless and finding new Keyblade wielders to continue the cause."

"The tradition of seven wielders protecting the X Blade was broken, but wielders bravely went to battle against the Heartless enemies. After the deaths of the original Princesses of Heart, there would be a new generation of maidens with pure hearts, though they never became Keyblade wielders."

The cycle continued throughout the years, and Keyblade wielders continued to fight the Heartless, seeking to bring peace back to the realms…" (**A/N: **This is basically the prologue from the first chapter.)

Then there's a picture of what Kingdom Hearts is supposed to look like: a giant, blue heart floating in the sky among the clouds. The guidebook gives no indication of what the X Blade is supposed to look like.

I stare at the surrealistic picture of Kingdom Hearts, which almost seems to glow on the page.

The heart of all worlds. A Keyblade that controls its power, so powerful it could either bring peace to the worlds, or destroy them. That was a lot for someone to handle. It was no wonder why one of the Guardians betrayed the others for it. The desire for power like that can make people do crazy things.

But where did the other seven Guardians hide the X Blade? And where exactly is Kingdom Hearts located? The guidebook doesn't elaborate much on the topic. It just discloses the legend about it. The only clue to the location is that it's hiding somewhere in the clouds, and that's why it could never be found. The X Blade is the only thing that could possibly reveal the path to it.

But the guide doesn't have the first clue as to where this precious blade could be. And neither do I. And Master Yen Sid and the King probably don't know either.

However, I do know it's crucial that information on its whereabouts doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Or all the worlds could be doomed.

**xxxxx**

ElvenPrincess01: Sorry if this was such a short chapter. But the Destiny Islands trio is going to start traveling to other worlds in either the next chapter or the chapter after it. I haven't quite decided yet. It depends on how long the idea I have for the next chapter plays out.

Sora: Ooh, what world are we going to first?

ElvenPrincess01: I can't tell you. It's a surprise.

Sora: Aw, come on! Tell me, tell me, tell me!

ElvenPrincess01: *singing* You'll have to wait till next time!

Sora: Aww…

ElvenPrincess01: Thanks for reading! Subscribe and review! See you later!

**xxxxx**


	8. Starting A Journey May Not Be So Hard

ElvenPrincess01: Hey guys, what's up? Got started working on this chapter a couple days after I put up the previous chapter, so–

Kairi: What world are we going to first?

ElvenPrincess01: Not you too, Kairi…

Kairi: I'm just curious. I'm not going to pester you like Sora did.

ElvenPrincess01: Well MAYBE if you do the disclaimer, I'll consider dropping a hint.

Kairi: Awesome! ElvenPrincess01 does not own any of the characters or franchises featured in this chapter. Enjoy!

xxxxx

Previous Chapter

Then there's a picture of what Kingdom Hearts is supposed to look like: a giant, blue heart floating in the sky among the clouds. The guidebook gives no indication of what the X Blade is supposed to look like.

I stare at the surrealistic picture of Kingdom Hearts, which almost seems to glow on the page.

The heart of all worlds. A Keyblade that controls its power, so powerful it could either bring peace to the worlds, or destroy them. That was a lot for someone to handle. It was no wonder why one of the Guardians betrayed the others for it. The desire for power like that can make people do crazy things.

But where did the other seven Guardians hide the X Blade? And where exactly is Kingdom Hearts located? The guidebook doesn't elaborate much on the topic. It just discloses the legend about it. The only clue to the location is that it's hiding somewhere in the clouds, and that's why it could never be found. The X Blade is the only thing that could possibly reveal the path to it.

But the guide doesn't have the first clue as to where this precious blade could be. And neither do I. And Master Yen Sid and the King probably don't know either.

However, I do know it's crucial that information on its whereabouts doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Or all the worlds could be doomed.

Chapter 8: Starting A Journey May Not Be So Hard

Summoning my Keyblade, I drop down into a defensive stance, mentally preparing myself for what is to come.

Riku and I are in the Simulation Chamber, about to start my last day of training. After six long days of practicing sword strikes and magic spells, it all boils down to this. A mock test of what could happen in the real world. Or real worlds I should say.

Riku gets to work setting everything up while I wait patiently for the simulation to start, listening to my breath. I'm going to treat this mock fight as if it were the real deal. Pretend I'm actually out on the battlefield and I have to give it my all. If I can't do that in an imitation fight, then how would I fare when faced with real Heartless?

The typical whooshing noise that indicates the arrival of the Heartless simulations sounds in my ears in no time, and white portals emerge into view before my eyes.

I raise my Keyblade up a few inches, my mind going into battle mode. I told Riku to put the stimulation on a level higher than six, wanting to test my abilities out on stronger enemies. There would be no Shadows today.

The portals disappear, revealing in their stead…Blue Rhapsodies? Their tiny little blue bodies float in the air. They immediately begin attacking me with Blizzard spells, tiny balls of ice shooting towards me. Their attacks are easy to avoid, and I quickly duck out of the way, out of their range.

I shoot an exasperated look at Riku. "Riku!" I groan. This was so not a level above six. Blue Rhapsodies I learned were some of the weakest Heartless out there. This has to be level 1.

"Sorry," he apologizes with a small smile on his face. He presses more buttons on the control panel. The Blue Rhapsodies had already turned to face me and were readying another attack, but they never get the opportunity. White portals descend from above and encase them, making them disappear.

More white portals show up, and this time, they leave behind Heartless that are definitely above level 6. Neoshadows. And there are quite a few of them.

They're poised for action in a semicircle, their legs apart and arms out at their sides. They stand low to the ground.

For some reason, it feels like I've been in a similar situation before. My brain pulls up the fuzzy recollection I have of this scene, the dream I had once when I was in Spira.

I was standing in the midst of some strange-looking monsters, tall black things with long antennas and yellow eyes. The Neoshadows fit the bill perfectly. The dream I had must have been a memory from a time when I was fighting the same kind of enemies. But was it here in the stimulation chamber or in the real world?

The more I try to grasp onto the fleeting memory, the quicker it retreats to the edges of my consciousness.

But enough about that. Right now I have a battle to focus on. The Neoshadows waste no time in attacking me, and I am surprised by the speed of their movements. They are faster than I expected.

One of them leaps at me, its muscular hind legs launching him into the air. I only have enough time to bring my Keyblade up and slash through the Heartless. It fades away into black wisps of ash.

More of the Heartless jump at me, and I have to whirl around constantly to keep up with the onslaught, striking my Keyblade at my foes, my feet flying from one spot to the next as I struggle to shake them off.

Some of the Neoshadows seem to be employing some kind of strategy, and I can see now why they're harder to beat than regular Shadow Heartless. These simulations are just like the real ones, trying to trick me.

They speedily hop from one spot to the next before suddenly throwing themselves at me, in what seems like an attempt to throw me off so I won't be able to get my Keyblade up in time to defend myself.

I have slight difficulties in keeping up with their movements, and I feel like this would be easier if I had two Keyblades instead of one. Still, I keep pushing forward, continuously blocking and delivering strikes.

After a minute or two of the battle, I'm able to clear enough space between the Neoshadows and where I stand, and I decide it's time for me to bring some magic into play.

I quickly shuffle mentally through the list of magic spells that I know, trying to figure out what element will work the best against Neoshadows. Fire seems like a good choice.

I level my Keyblade at a nearby Neoshadow, quick to attack before they continue their assault against me. "Firaga!"

A sizeable ball of fire bursts out of the tip of my Keyblade and towards the enemy, seeking out its target. However, the Neoshadow I'm aiming at, jumps out of the way right before my attack can hit him, and the ball of fire hits the opposite wall where it dissipates.

I'm shocked to say the least. "What?" I wasn't expecting them to be able to evade attacks like that. I'm going to have to try a more powerful attack. One they can't avoid.

The other Neoshadows rush at me after my failed attack, and I am forced to go back onto the defensive, blocking their claw strikes and melee attacks, before I get a chance to turn the tide, slashing through their forms with my Keyblade.

Their numbers start to diminish and the room becomes gradually emptier. This match is almost over.

Pleased by the revelation, I opt for another magic attack, hoping this time it works.

I hold my Keyblade over my head and shout in a loud and clear voice, "Thunder!"

Zapping noises resound through the room as numerous lightning bolts bombard the Heartless, electrifying them into puffs of darkness that fade away.

Riding off the success of that attack, I hold my Keyblade horizontally and aim at one of the Neoshadows.

"Aqua Splash!" A flurry of melted ice shoots forth from my blade and strikes the Neoshadow. I move Destiny's Embrace in a line, turning so I can hit the Heartless.

For the last few Heartless that remain that didn't get hit by the Aqua Splash, I personally deliver a Firaga Burst to them.

I now stand in an empty room. I probably used more magic than what was really needed, getting a little carried away with my newfound abilities, but I still won.

I'm not done yet however, and more white portals shimmer into view; however, this time instead of Neoshadows materializing, I am greeted by Gargoyle Knights. Even though they're dreadfully slow, they're immune to magic spells, so I have to stick to pure swordplay for this one.

Fighting them is easier than fighting the Neoshadows. It doesn't help though that they can fly through the air and swoop down at me bladefirst, their long silver blades slicing through the air where my body was just at before I moved out of harm's way.

I go through the motions of what I learned in my various swordplay training lessons, and I defeat them. As time wanes on, I vanquish more and more Heartless, developing a pattern in my fighting techniques.

After I beat another round of Heartless, more white portals manifest, but then they suddenly vanish before they can produce any more Heartless for me to fight. Riku must have stopped the stimulation. That's ok with me. I could use a break after all that.

He shambles out of the computer room, his hands tucked into his pockets and a tiny smile on his face.

"Good job, Kairi," he says to me. "You'd cleared the entire room multiple times. Nice."

"Thanks." I put away my Keyblade. "I still can't believe I actually did it. That was easier than what I thought it would be, but it was still a bit difficult though."

"Well…I did secretly lower the artificial intelligence of the Heartless by just a bit," Riku admits. "I didn't think you had quite adjusted to fighting somewhat powerful Heartless yet, and if you're still developing your abilities, you would have a hard time fighting them."

"You did?" Well that explains why at times the Heartless didn't attack me, which gave me more time to think about magic spells and actually perform them. Some of the Heartless did go down a little too easy...

"Yeah…" Riku studies my face, his eyes searching my own. "Are you upset?"

I shake my head. "Of course not. Why would I be? I mean you said so yourself. Some Heartless can be a bit tricky to beat. I saw that first-hand." I smile. "I know I'm a long ways from where I was before I lost my memories, but I'll get there eventually."

Riku chuckles. "Spoken like a true Keyblade wielder."

"You know it," I grin.

"Nevertheless, today's the last day of your training week." Riku stares at me hard, his blue-green eyes serious. "You think you can handle yourself from now on?"

My eyes fall to the ground as I think about it. I learned combat with my Keyblade, plenty of magic spells, read the guide book enough to know the many different types of Heartless and other essential information, and practiced here in the Stimulation Chamber enough times to feel comfortable with fighting real Heartless.

My eyes flash back to Riku's face with resoluteness. I can feel it in my voice.

"Yes. I'm ready."

xxxxx

Sora, Riku, and I stand side by side in front of Yen Sid's desk, awaiting his directions. His Majesty is off to the side, his eyes on the aged ex-Keyblade wielder as well.

Riku and I both went to Master Yen Sid once I made my decision. After we gathered up Sora and the King, Master Yen Sid decided it was time we begin our journey. I admit I'm still a little nervous about it all.

But perhaps, starting a new journey may not be so hard. Maybe it already began. Maybe my journey really began when I left Spira in order to reclaim my lost memories and my old life. Or maybe it began when Sora cropped back into my life out of that Corridor of Darkness.

Master Yen Sid starts to speak and I focus my mind on what he says.

"Since Kairi has finished her week of training and has reached a satisfactory level of proficiency with her Keyblade, it is time that you three start traveling to other worlds," Yen Sid declares in his usual gravelly voice. "This adventure may be more difficult than your last, so do not let your guard down.

"Don't worry," Sora boasts. "We can take care of anything!" He grins, revealing rows of perfect white teeth. Nothing seems to ever Sora. He was either really brave or really naive. Probably a mixture of both.

The King told us that he was going on a separate mission: tracking down Maleficent. He believes that the recent influx of Heartless in some of the worlds meant that the evil witch was trying to upstart another Heartless army after we had foiled her plans some time ago. In order to prove his theory, he has to find her.

Sora, Riku and I stock up the Gummi ship with supplies for our journey, and I meet the Gummi ship's engineers, Chip and Dale, who had just arrived from Disney Castle earlier today. During the journeys Sora, Riku and I took, they stayed in another part of the vessel, and kept it in tip-top shape.

Chip and Dale are two nearly identical-looking talking anthropomorphic chipmunks with some minor differences between them that help me to distinguish one from the other. Both of them wear aprons over their tiny bodies.

"Hey, it's Kairi!" They squeak and jump into the air with glee. "It's good to see you again!"

"Hi." I wave, smiling back at them, amused at their reaction of seeing me.

Before we depart, Master Yen Sid and the King give us parting words. Each of them advise us to be very careful, especially me, because I'm still a little new to the whole vanquishing Heartless thing, and it will take more than a week for me to get back into the swing of things.

With the cautions of being vigilant and wary in my mind, the three of us are ready to leave, and we proceed onto the Gummi ship.

Before Riku can say a single word of protest, Sora races over to the driver's seat like a little child running into a candy store. "I'm driving," he announces as he make himself comfortable as the self-designated driver.

Riku can only sigh as he takes up a seat next to our spiky-haired friend. "Fine. You win this time." Sora grins as Riku allows him full control of the controls.

"Warp drive to Hollow Bastion," Riku says.

"Huh?"

"What?" Riku smirks. "You thought we were going to drive to Hollow Bastion? The only reason why we drove the last time was so Kairi could see what a normal drive looked like." I remember the last time we came to Hollow Bastion to see Merlin and how we zipped through the wide expanse of space, dodging asteroids and meteorites alike.

"But we don't have to do that right now," he adds.

"Aw, man," Sora pouts. "I'm driving next time!" He quickly calls dibs before Riku can beat him to it.

"Fine."

Sora starts up the ship, lights flickering on the control panel as the ship buzzes to life.

He then presses a button on the control panel. "Are we ready for takeoff, Chip and Dale?" He asks in a clear voice.

One of the monitors on the control panel flickers, then reveals the bright faces of the chipmunks.

"Ready for takeoff, Sora!" Chip exclaims, and he salutes Sora.

"Ok then, first stop, Hollow Bastion!"

"Why are we going to Hollow Bastion first again?" I question Sora.

Sora presses some buttons on the control panel before answering. "We need to stock up on some more supplies. You know, potions, elixirs, that kind of thing." He pushes another button, a large blue button, and the ship slowly rises into the air.

One second I'm looking out the window at orange skies; the next I see Hollow Bastion, the castle and everything, all laid out below us.

Sora guides the ship next to the bastion itself, and gently lands it. He powers down the engines and pushes more buttons, until the ship turns off completely.

"You know, we should stop by and see Leon and the others while we're here," Riku suggests as we walk down the cobblestoned streets of Hollow Bastion. "We didn't get a chance to see them last time."

"Yeah, we should. I wonder how they're doing with the town's restoration," Sora says.

The three of us emerge into the marketplace and stop at one of the many shops that line the area. Inside the one we pause at is a small, young-looking, anthropomorphic male duck wearing a blue shirt and a blue cap on his head.

Sora begins talking to the duck while I gaze around the area. Hollow Bastion's a quiet, enchanting town. I notice that in this visit, and in the last one, there don't seem to be a lot of people living here. Even now the only person I see besides the shopkeepers is a tall man with spiky blonde hair propped up against a wall. He's dressed entirely in black, and wears a stoic expression on his face.

"What?" Sora's shocked voice knocks me out of my thoughts and observations. "What do you mean you raised the price?" He starts arguing with the duck. "Times are tough? But Hi-Potions have always been 100 munny! You can't just raise the prices like that!" Sora and the duck continue to argue while Riku just exhales slowly, not even bothering to jump into the argument. He turns his head towards me.

"This could take a while," he notes as his eyes flicker back to the squabbling for a quick second. "Why don't you go on ahead and get yourself reacquainted with Leon and the others? They should be at Merlin's house. You remember how to get there?"

"I think so." All I have to do is go down the stairs from here, round a couple corners, and Merlin's house should be there.

"We'll catch up with you once we're done here." As I depart from the shop, I hear Riku's deep voice as he intervenes in the dispute, and the squabbling of Sora and the duck dies down.

I'm on my way to Merlin's house, having gone down the stairs and rounding a corner, when I hear someone call my name.

"Hey! Kairi!" The cheerful voice of a girl breaks the silence that usually dominates the area. I search my surroundings, trying to find the speaker. I look behind me as well, but I don't see anyone. I'm alone. I'm quite sure I didn't make up that voice.

"Up here!" The voice calls out again. I look up to see a girl with short black hair and a smile on her face standing on a top of wall that overlooks the ground. She waves her hand once before she lithely jumps down onto the ground in front of me, landing in a crouch after the skillful jump she just pulled off. She gracefully stands back up.

"Hey, how's it going?" She beams.

The girl appears to be around my age, perhaps slightly older, outfitted in a dark gray combat vest on top of a navy blue tank top with white floral designs on it. She has on tan short-shorts and black knee-high socks with dark tan boots that stop right below where her socks do.

On the wrist of her left arm is a white wristband, and on her right hand is a grey fingerless glove. Around her head is a black ninja headband. The ends flap in the wind.

Wait a minute. A girl with short black hair. And a ninja headband. I comb through my memory banks, recalling the information Sora supplied me with earlier about the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. She fits the characteristics of one of the members.

"Hi, er, um…Yuffie?" The last part comes out as a question, since I don't know if I'm right or not.

Yuffie doesn't break her smile. "It's ok. You don't have to strain yourself trying to remember me. Merlin's told us everything."

"Oh…well it's good to see you," I say.

Yuffie scans the area around me. "Where are Sora and Riku at?" She inquires curiously.

"They're at one of the shops getting supplies. Potions, elixirs, that kind of thing."

"Ah, you're getting supplies, huh? Getting ready for a big adventure?" Yuffie grins at me, rubbing her hands together in delight.

"Yeah, we're preparing ourselves before we start going to other worlds to fight some more Heartless."

"Uh-huh." Yuffie tilts her head a bit, looking me up and down. I frown a little, wondering where the random inspection's coming from. "Say…did you forget how to use a Keyblade when you lost your memory? Are you going to be ok out there?" Her tone carries a slight hint of skepticism.

"I'll be fine…I think. Anyways, I did lose memory of my Keyblade-wielding abilities when I lost my memory, but I did a quick crash course with Riku and the others, so I should be good," I tell the ninja girl.

"That's good." A smile reappears on her bright face. Her eyes sweep the town. "I was just taking a walk around the town, checking on things." A wistful look enters her eyes and her voice quiets considerably. "We're close to restoring this place. Sooner or later, Radiant Garden is going to be back."

"Radiant Garden?"

"That was the original name of this world, before the Heartless took over it and it became Hollow Bastion."

Yuffie divulges more information about Hollow Bastion and the history behind it, in addition to the bits and pieces of information Riku provided me with previously.

Years ago, Heartless invaded the world and drove the residents out. Maleficent took up residence in the castle not long after. During our previous voyages, Sora, Riku, and I met Leon and the others in Traverse Town, where they told us they were former citizens of Hollow Bastion and what travesty occurred to their home world.

Later traveling to Hollow Bastion, we fought and defeated the Heartless there, and expelled the evil fairy from the castle. This would be the first of multiple encounters we would have with her.

After Maleficent and the Heartless were driven out, Leon and the others came back to Hollow Bastion, and began tirelessly working to fix the world up. Maleficent and the Heartless really did a number on the place.

"The rest of the committee and I have been working so we can restore it to its former glory," Yuffie finishes. The moment she does, a look of realization materializes on her face, and her mouth forms an "o".

"Oh! I'm supposed to have checked in with Leon by now." She bends down a little, leaning over towards me. She looks like a tightly-coiled spring waiting to release. "Wanna come with?"

"Sure, I was actually heading that way."

"Great!" Yuffie grins, bouncing up a little on her toes. She really is an easily excitable girl.

And she bounces away happily, humming to herself. She reminds me a lot of Rikku. They would really hit it off. I follow after her, a smile on my face.

xxxxx

Yuffie throws open the door to Merlin's house where it bangs against the opposite wall, causing the inhabitants to jump in alarm at the loud noise.

"Guess who I brought!" She sings in delight as she steps across the threshold.

There are three people in the room, all around a large computer. One of them is perched in a chair with the other two on either side of him.

There's a gorgeous young brunette woman with two braids going down her back, a red ribbon tying them together. She wears a pink dress with a white and carmine top over it adorning her slim figure.

In the chair is an older-looking man with blonde hair, goggles, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, smoke trailing out of it.

And on the other side is a serious-looking young man clad mostly in black, with long brown hair that hangs just short of his shoulders.

"That's Aerith, Cid and Leon," Yuffie points out the young woman, the blonde-haired man, and the serious-looking man respectively.

The young woman gasps, clapping her hands together. "Kairi! We missed you!" She has a soft angelic voice that almost sounds like bells. Coupled with her radiant beauty, I can feel my self-esteem take a hit.

Cid takes his cigarette out of his mouth before speaking. "You still in top shape, eh?" His voice is rough, contrasting Aerith's gentle voice strongly. He sticks his cigarette back into his mouth and puffs out another trail of smoke.

"Hey." Leon says in a deep voice while nodding at me, arms over his chest as he leans back against the wall in the epitome of a cool guy. He's a man of few words, I can tell. The polar opposite of Yuffie. I wonder how they get along.

"Hi," I greet the three of them as I come further into the room. "I'm sorry I don't remember you guys."

Aerith shakes her head. "You don't have to apologize," she smiles at me. "It's not your fault. You're back. That's all that matters."

"You forget everything?" Cid asks. I nod my head. "Well, ain't that a shame." He puffs out another trail of smoke.

Yuffie sighs deeply. "Cid, didn't I tell you to stop smoking?" She groans. "It's bad for your health." She reaches for his cigarette but he jerks away out of reach.

"Dangit, woman," he grunts, "I can smoke if I want to and you're not going to stop me!"

Yuffie starts to list off the negative effects of smoking, a list Cid is none too happy to listen to, a deep scowl starting to form on his face. Aerith attempts to play mediator. Leon shakes his head, most likely used to the antics of his fellow committee members. His penetrating gaze then lands on me.

"Where exactly were you at this entire time?"

"I somehow ended up on a world called Spira and remained there for a few weeks until Sora came and found me."

"Huh. I wonder how you ended up there..."

"Star Shard," I promptly reply. At Leon's confused look, I tack on, "Long story. Still doesn't explain the memory loss though. Probably bumped my head or something in Spira."

"Well in any case, it's good to have you back." The corners of Leon's mouth turn up in what appears to be a smile.

"Thanks," I say. "It's good to be back."

"Where's Sora and Riku?" Leon asks. "You came alone?"

"No, they—"

The front door opens, signaling the arrival of more guests. Sora and Riku's voices drift in.

"We really need to get our hands on some more munny," Sora sighs.

"Well thanks to me, I was able to drive the price down some," Riku replies.

"Sora! Riku!" Aerith exclaims.

"Huh?" Sora looks our way. "Oh, hey guys! What's up? How's the restoration going?"

"Pretty good, all things considering," Leon says. "It won't be long now. We've already cleaned up the castle and the surrounding area." Leon uncrosses his arms. "There's some stuff that needs to be done around town, and we need to take down the machinery on the bastion, but it won't be long now."

"That's great!" Sora grins. "I can't wait to see the finished product!"

"Yeah!" Yuffie grins widely. "When you guys come back from your adventure, you're not even going to recognize the place!"

"Adventure, eh?" Cid puffs on his cigarette. Yuffie subtly narrows her eyes at him.

"Something like that," Riku answers. "We got more worlds to see, more Heartless to take care of."

"Then good luck on your journey!" Aerith smiles softly. "Come back safely, ok?"

"Be careful out there," Leon advises.

"We will!" Sora assures him and the rest of the committee.

Sora, Riku, and I talk to them for a while longer, until Leon says they need to get back to work after another smoking-related argument starts up between Yuffie and Cid.

On the way to the Gummi, I'm handed my share of healing items bought at the shop. Curious as to how things went down there, I ask what transpired.

Riku told me that Dewey, the duck, had raised the price of Hi-Potions from 100 munny to 120 munny, but Riku managed to talk him down to 110. Sora still wasn't too happy about the unexpected price increase, but 110 munny is better than 120 munny.

As soon as we get back into the Gummi ship, Sora once again races to the controls much like before, plopping down happily in the seat."Now it's driving time!" He grips the steering wheel tightly, as if he's worried Riku or I are going to pry him away from it.

Riku takes his usual seat to the left of him. "Try not to overdo it," he says in a slightly weary voice. "We want to make it to the first world alive."

"Relax, I got this," Sora assures him as he starts up the Gummi ship, bringing it back to life. When the ship finishes the startup, Chip and Dale give us the clear for takeoff.

"What world are we going to first?" I ask. I've been wondering in the back of my mind for a while now what kind of worlds we would be visiting. Would they be anything like the worlds I had seen since I left Spira?

It was funny how when I was in Spira I was in disbelief at the idea of other worlds besides the one I was in; now I couldn't help but feel a little fascinated at all the other worlds out there in space, right at my fingertips, waiting to be explored. It's an exciting feeling.

"Well you see, when we go to new worlds, we never really know what world we're going to," Sora tells me as he lifts the ship into the air, the ground becoming farther and farther from us.

"We just drive the ship around and look for new worlds." His eyes still looking straight ahead, he points a cladded finger at a monitor in front of me on the control panel. "The monitor shows a map of the worlds, and when we're near a new world, it'll tell us. It'll also tell us the name of the world."

"Ah, I see." I peer closer at the monitor where it shows a map, with a little red triangle that I assume to be us. There are other dots on the map, which must be other worlds. We're right on top of one—Hollow Bastion.

"Ready guys?" Sora turns his head to look at Riku and I.

"Ready," I answer.

Riku nods his head. "Let's get going."

Sora grins excitedly. "Then we're off!"And with that, we zoom off into the air, hurtling into the wide expanse of space. Where we would go first, no one knows. And what enemies we would have to face, no one knows. But I'm going to give it my all. I am a Keyblade wielder after all.

xxxxx

Sora: Hey, we didn't go to the first world yet!

ElvenPrincess01: I said in the last chapter there was a chance that we wouldn't! I thought about you and the others landing in the first world at the end of the chapter just to introduce it after you guys left Hollow Bastion, but I decided against it. This chapter was longer than what I thought it was going to be, so I'm just going to start off the next chapter with the new world. I need more time to get some things together for the world you're going to be visiting anyways. But all that aside, would you do the closing, Kairi?

Kairi: With pleasure! Thanks for reading! Remember to review and subscribe! And since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, Happy Thanksgiving! Bye! *to ElvenPrincess01* So what's the hint for the first world? You said you would give me a hint if I did the disclaimer for the first chapter.

ElvenPrincess01: Huh? Oh, I did. Ok fine. The hint is: the world where you guys are going, there's going to be treasure. Lots and lots of treasure…

Sora: That's it? That's the hint? That doesn't tell us anything!

ElvenPrincess01: Oh, sue me. Thank you guys for reading! Bye!


	9. Setting Sail

_Previous Chapter_

"_Ready guys?" Sora turns his head to look at Riku and I._

"_Ready," I answer. _

_Riku nods his head. "Let's get going."_

_Sora grins excitedly. "Then we're off!"And with that, we zoom off into the air, hurtling into the wide expanse of space. Where we would go first, no one knows. And what enemies we would have to face, no one knows. But I'm going to give it my all. I am a Keyblade wielder after all. _

**Chapter 9: Setting Sail**

"Sora, watch out for that asteroid! Above you! Look out!"

Chip and Dale shout alerts to Sora as he pilots the Gummi ship through the gate of asteroids we're advancing though at nearly breakneck speed.

Heeding the cautions of the two chipmunks, he steers the ship to the left, to the right, down, moving in all directions.

The only thing I can do is hang onto my seat so I don't fall off.

"You know, Sora, you could shoot the asteroids with lasers," Riku advises.

"Relax, I got this," Sora tries to reassure him as he flies the ship, but judging from the skeptical expression on Riku's face, I don't think it worked.

We've been driving for a while now, and for the most part it was peaceful driving, giving us a chance to relax into a calm atmosphere of casual conversation and such, but then just a few minutes ago, we came across a stretch of asteroids that we have to fight our way through.

"Whoa!" Sora exclaims as a large asteroid hurtles towards us at blistering speed. Instead of moving the ship out of its trajectory, Sora launches lasers at the space junk, causing it to combust and send thousands of rock fragments into space.

"See?" Sora flashes a grin at Riku. "Told you I got it." Riku says something under his breath but I can't hear it. Apparently Sora does because he shoots him a glare, but makes no retort.

We finally make it past the belt of asteroids into a relatively calm area with a few asteroids, until they disappear completely a few minutes later. A beeping noise goes off in the cockpit, one that I haven't hear before, and for a second I think something bad is happening, until the noise subsides and Chip's voice comes over the speakers.

"A new world has just been spotted! You guys should be coming to it soon!"

"Awesome!" Sora cheers. "Hey Kairi, can you see the name of the world we're approaching?"

"Um…"I lean forward in my chair, peering closely at the monitor; I see the red triangle that's us coming closer and closer to a small dot on the monitor. Unsure of how I'm supposed to use this thing since Sora never exactly told me how it worked, I tap the dot with my finger and a little sign pops up with writing inside.

"Looks like…Montressor…"

"Montressor…" Sora repeats the word. "Wonder what's there."

"We won't know until we land," Riku responds. "Try not to crash the ship before we get there."

After we pass through a barrier of clouds, we get a good bird's eye view of the world below us, becoming larger and larger as we descend towards the land, and I can see a…cliff?

There's a cliff down below with grass on it, with little dots littered all over it. As we fly closer, the dots become clearer to me as houses, stretching out as far as my eyes can see into the horizon.

Judging by the thatched roofs and bales of hay next to some of the houses, we had to be in the countryside.

"Uh, where am I supposed to land?" Sora wonders aloud as we hover uncertainly above the ground.

"Look, over there," Riku points with a finger. I follow the line of direction his finger was pointing in and see a medium-sized abode at the edge of the cliff. Next to it and leading away from it are planks of boards that form a pathway to the place, to which large, impressive-looking ships are anchored. They're—

"Pirate ships!" Sora says with a gleeful expression lighting up his face. "There must be pirates here!" I don't know whether he's doing it consciously or unconsciously, but as a result of Sora's excitement at the opportunity to see pirates, he drives a the Gummi a little faster, heading straight towards them.

"Sora's got a thing for pirates," Riku explains to me. I probably have a curious look on my face as to why Sora is so excited. Now that I think about it, I remember that one of the worlds we previously visited was full of pirates, so Sora's fascination for the adventurers most likely started there.

We land the Gummi away from the dwelling and get out. Sora stares out at the pirate ships with wonder in his eyes while I eye the place we stand in front of.

There's a wheel on the back of the roof and other gears and machinery running across it, much like the places in Hollow Bastion. I can't believe I didn't notice it before but the place is sitting precariously right on top of a rock structure that stems down below to the ground. It seem like a dangerous place for someone to put a place up, and I wonder what would happen if the rock structure gave way. But not wanting to jinx anything, I push those thoughts out of my mind.

"What do we do first?" I ask my two friends. We're supposed to be looking for a Keyhole, but I don't see any Keyhole around, and I have no clue to where we should be looking.

"Let's check this place out first," Riku suggests. "Looks like it's still open." There are three floors in the place and there are lights on the first floor.

As we push open the door, I am instantly welcomed by a variety of aromas, people talking and laughing, glasses clinking, and silverware scratching against plates.

It looks like a restaurant the three of us have entered. Or a café. Or something along those lines.

The room is half-full of people, eating happily. Some of them have green skin, some have several eyes, and others had only one.

There's a wooden staircase leading up to the second floor at the corner of the room and a tall stone column that reaches up to the ceiling with a fireplace at the base, at the edge of the room in the center.

A woman with brown hair wearing a white cap on her head and a dress with puffy white sleeves is attending to the customers, flitting from one table to the next. She looks extremely busy, judging from the wearied expression on her face.

It's easy to tell she's frustrated and stressed, but she's very patient and doesn't let her stresses creep into her voice, keeping a pleasant tone in her voice as she deals with her customers.

I don't see any other workers around, which makes me think about how many of the woman's days are like this.

"Huh. Looks like a restaurant," Riku says aloud as his eyes sweep over his surroundings.

Sora, who by now had snapped out of his pirate ship-induced euphoria, gazes around the place. "You think they take munny?"

"Let's grab a seat and find out," Riku replies as he leads the way over to an empty table.

The brunette woman finishes attending to a customer and is about to bustle off somewhere else when she notices us, new customers in her eatery. She quickly hurries over.

She approaches us with a warm smile on her face. "Hello, I'm Mrs. Hawkins. Welcome to Benbow Inn. Give me a second and I'll be back with some menus for you." Her attention is then diverted by a female patron with a high-pitched voice who is waving her glass in the air and demanding purp juice, whatever that is, ("Mrs. Hawkins!"), and she leaves to take care of the request.

Looking around the restaurant, I see a young, green-skinned boy eating what appeared to be worms in a bowl. Large worms. And they're moving.

Swallowing the vomit that was threatening to climb up my throat, I have to verify that I'm not seeing things.

"Is that kid eating…_worms_?"

It doesn't take long for Sora and Riku to see what I'm talking about and as soon as they do, their faces mirror my shocked and somewhat sickened expression, though Riku does a good job at disguising it.

"You know, I'm," Sora clears his throat, "suddenly not feeling that hungry. A glass of water will do me just fine."

"Agreed," Riku and I say at the same time, and I turn away from the sight before I get even sicker.

"Hey, do you think we should—?"

My sentence is abruptly cut off by the unexpected banging noise of the front door being forced open and slammed against the wall. Jumping in our seats, the three of us to gawk at the entryway.

At the doorway stands two large, imposing robots who are donned in police uniforms. They're roughly the height of Fat Bandits, though not nearly as wide.

In between them with each of them resting a hand on his shoulders is a sullen-looking boy who looks to be the same age as us, with brown hair parted at his forehead and tied to a brief rattail. He gives off a bad boy aura and, along with the expression on his face that clearly says _here-we-go-again_, it's clear that this is just one of many run-ins with the police.

Mrs. Hawkins gasps, dropping the plates she carries in her hands where they break noisily on the floor, but I doubt the noise really registers in her mind. "Jim!"

"Ok, thanks for the lift guys," Jim grins as he tried to slink his way out of the policemen's grip, but fails as they pulled him back. "Not so fast," one of them says in a monotone, robotic voice. Jim narrows his eyes.

"Mrs. Hawkins, we apprehended your son flying a solar vehicle in a restricted area. This, as you may know, constitutes a violation of his probation."

"Right, yes, I understand," Mrs. Hawkins says as she makes a beeline to the robots. "It's just that, I, uh…" The woman is at a loss of words, flustered as she attempts to remedy the situation.

"Excuse me." A slender dog/human looking hybrid with dog-like nose and ears, spectacles sitting above his nose, and a long overcoat wrapped around his body walks over from a nearby table. "If I may interrupt, I would just like to say that—"

"Are you the boy's father?" One of the robots interrupts.

"What?" The man is taken aback but quickly regains his composure. "Oh no, no. it's nothing like that. I'm just a family friend."

"Then BACK OFF SIR!" Both policemen bark, getting in the man's face. He jumps back, taken by surprise. "Er, right." And he hastily retreats back to his seat.

The policeman continue as if the interruption had never occurred. "Due to repeated violations of his probation, we have confiscated his vehicle. Any more slip-ups and he'll end up in juvenile hall."

"We see this happen all the time, ma'am," the other robot says. "Wrong choices make deadbeats." The boy gives the robot a dirty look, not taking it kindly to be called a deadbeat.

"Well then, take care," the other robot says. And both robots turn on their heels—well, wheels in this case, since they don't have feet—and depart, closing the door behind them.

As soon as they leave, the customers resume talking. Everyone in the restaurant was completely silent when the robot policemen entered, wanting to watch the drama unfold. I was no better.

Mrs. Hawkins and her son argue from what I could see, though I can't hear a word of what they're saying. Even without words, I can see Mrs. Hawkins looks like she's at the end of her rope and I feel a little bad for her.

She's extremely busy running this place and she seems to be the only person who really works here. And on top of that, she has a trouble-making son from the looks of it who was expected to end up in juvie.

_I wonder where his dad is at_…I think to myself.

Finally, Mrs. Hawkins strides off and Jim leaves for the kitchen with a load of dishes in his hands, a somber expression on his face as he passes through the doorway and out of sight.

A couple minutes after the storm passes, Mrs. Hawkins returns with our menus, but keeping true to what we agreed on earlier, the only thing we order is a glass of water. Mrs. Hawkins gives us questioning look, most likely confused as to why someone would come to a restaurant just to order water, but says nothing.

I am a little hungry, and I know that I would eventually have to suck it up and eat some of this food at some point, but I'm going to put it off just a bit longer.

The customers begin leaving one by one, and after a while, Sora, Riku, and I are the only ones left, besides Mrs. Hawkins's friend.

"You kids aren't hungry?" She asks us in a motherly tone when she swings by our table to ask if we needed anything.

"Uh, no, we kind of just…ate," I lie smoothly.

Mrs. Hawkins examines our clothes. "Judging by your clothes, it looks to me that you kids aren't from around here." She scrutinizes our faces closely. "Aren't you a little young to be traveling between worlds by yourselves?"Mrs. Hawkins is very perceptive.

"Actually, ma'am," Riku counters, "we've been doing this for a while. We're pretty much experts as this."

"Uh-huh." Mrs. Hawkins doesn't seem all too sure about that, but she doesn't press the topic anymore, as an apologetic expression creeps onto her face. "I'm so sorry you had to hear all that earlier with my son."

Sora shakes his head. "It's no problem. You don't have to apologize."

The brunette woman smiles a bit at us before letting out a deep sigh, like she has a huge burden on her shoulders.

"Jim wasn't always like this." She holds a locket from around her neck in her hand and opens it, revealing a series of holograms of a young boy that I assume to be Jim. A wistful look appears on her face as she views the images with nostalgia.

"I keep thinking that one of these days, I'm going to come in and he's going to be like just the way he was; a smiling, happy boy, with a pet in his hands, begging me to keep it."

The door to the inn opens and Jim shuffles in, supporting someone with their arm around his neck.

Mrs. Hawkins gasps loudly for the second time that day. "James Pleiades Hawkins!" She exclaims.

Jim shambles further into the inn before setting the man down in the center of the room. "Mom, he's hurt," he tells her in a worried voice.

The man is collapsed on the floor, coughing. I can't see his body due to the dismal-looking coat that obscures it, but I can see his pale green skin, protruding jaw, deep-set yellow eyes, and large claws.

He coughs again. "Hand me the chest, boy." He points a claw at a small chest that he must have brought in with him. Jim acquiesces and the stranger punches in a passcode on the chest, the lid popping open to reveal its contents.

He reaches a quivering hand in and pulls out a round object wrapped in a cloth.

Coughing and gasping for air, his voice almost becomes a whisper. "He's going to be looking for this. You can't let him find it."

"Who's coming?" Jim asks.

"The cyyyyyborg." The stranger coughs. "Beware…the cyyyborg." And soon as the words leave his lips, his eyes roll back into his head and he falls back with a thud on the floor, completely still, his mouth agape.

I'm shocked to say the least. I want to believe that he's just unconscious, but his chest isn't rising. He's dead.

We all kind of stand there for a second in a stunned state at what just happened, Mrs. Hawkins's hand flying to her mouth, but before we can really come to terms with the situation, a loud noise like an aircraft rumbles from above, and a bright light shines into the windows. A few seconds later, the noise ceases.

Jim darts over to the window and peers out it. His eyes widen at whatever he sees outside. "We have to get out of here," he alerts us as he speeds forward, grabbing his mother's hand and pulling her with him up the stairs.

"What, what's going on?" The dogman inquires, right before the door bursts open, falling down to the floor as several Pirate Heartless leap into the vicinity. The dogman shrieks in fright.

Sora, Riku, and I quickly jumped into action without a second's hesitation. Whipping out our Keyblades we jump in between the Heartless and Mrs. Hawkins's friend.

"What are those things?!" He asks as he backs up towards the stairs.

"Heartless!" Sora answers as he stares fiercely at the enemies. "You go on ahead; we'll take care of them."

The dogman seems hesitant for a second to leave us like that, but as a Heartless creeps forward at us, he cries out again and runs up the stairs.

_Ok Kairi_, I tell myself. _This is the real deal. This is no stimulation. Let's do it just like we practiced._

One of the Heartless rears back his sword arm before slashing his wide, curved blade at me. I manage to dodge each one of his strikes before delivering my own, sending him dissipating into darkness soon after. I don't have time to celebrate my small victory as two more Pirates leapt at me, ready to take their fallen ally's place.

I move just like that, dodging their attacks and counter attacking, and soon enough, Sora, Riku, and I make quick work of the Pirates.

Unfortunately, more appear, and one of them tips over a fire pot, the floor catching on fire as furious flames rise up towards the ceiling, smoke wafting into the air.

"Come on, let's go!" Riku calls out as he destroys another Heartless before he spins around and starts running up the stairs.

Sora follows while I defeat one more Heartless before scurrying after them. I launch a few Fire attacks at the Heartless down on the first floor while climbing the stairs.

While I run up the stairs, I see someone at the corner of my eye, the smoke silhouetting their large and round figure as they saunter up to the front door.

When we arrive at the top of the staircase, we round the corner and see Jim and the others at the end of the hallway, in front of a large round window.

As we hurry up to them, the dogman faces us. "Are you kids alright?" He asks, a slight hint of worry in his voice.

"We're fine, don't worry about us," I calm him. Loud banging can be heard downstairs and trails of smoke drifts up the stairs.

Jim looks Sora, Riku, and me up and down, his eyebrows creasing. "Uh…who are you again?"

"No time for introductions," the dogman interrupts before I could say anything. "We can do that later." He focuses his attention on Mrs. Hawkins as he grasps her hand and they both step onto the edge of the windowsill.

"Ok, Sarah, the carriage is right there below. On the count of 3. 1…2…3!" On '3' they leap, Mrs. Hawkins screaming all the way.

Jim gives me one last look before he jumps out right behind them. Sora does the same.

"Wait a minute." I peer down at the ground to see a waiting carriage being pulled by a strange-looking but excitable creature. The bespectacled man, Mrs. Hawkins, Jim and Sora are all safely inside.

"Kairi! Riku! Come on!" Sora calls up to us.

"We're going to have to _jump_ out the window?" I can't hide the slight hysteria that's sidling into my voice. This is a third-story leap we're talking about. I might as well have been standing on top of a mountain. The carriage seems a lot far off than what it probably is and my stomach is in knots.

"Well, everyone else did so, so yeah, I think we do," Riku responds in slightly sarcastic but amused voice.

"But…aren't there any other options?"

"You could always go back to the Heartless."

The loud noise from downstairs becomes louder and I shoot a look over my shoulder to see shadows of the Heartless on the wall besides the stairs as they amble up them.

I quickly turn back around, my mind made up. "On second thought, I'm down with the jump."

"You go first," Riku says. I didn't want to go first but it was probably for the best. We had to go quickly and we didn't have all day. Riku wasn't going to wait around forever, and even though he probably wouldn't push me out the window, I still wasn't going to take that chance.

I take a deep breath, hoped for the best, and hop out the window. I'm caught in free fall for only about a second before I land in the carriage next to Sora.

_That wasn't as bad as I thought,_ I think as Riku lands in the carriage right after me. With everyone in, dogman pulls on the reigns of the creature and the carriage takes off.

"Go, Delilah, go!" The dogman shouts.

Mrs. Hawkins looks behind us to see the Benbow Inn all up in flames. She has the most distraught look on her face and she quickly turns back around, leaning over and holding her face in her hands. Her composure has finally chipped away at last, leaving her broken.

**xxxxx**

With the danger far behind us now as we gallop away from the scene, we flee to the dogman's mansion, a nice, princely estate, full of ship models, telescopes, and more. He introduces himself to us as Dr. Delbert Doppler, a noted astrophysicist.

We're all sitting in his living room, the fire in the fireplace crackling softly as smoldering embers fall to the hearth. Mrs. Hawkins is draped in a large blanket next to the hearth.

Dr. Doppler bends down next to her, a solemn look on his face and melancholy in his voice as he gauges the expression on the woman's face.

He holds her hand as he speaks softly. "I'm sorry, Sarah, but I'm afraid that the Benbow Inn has been burned to the ground." Mrs. Hawkins just heaves a sigh. I thought she would've had a major breakdown.

The doctor informs us that the Gummi ship is unharmed, probably because we didn't park it close to the inn. That meant Chip and Dale are alright. I let out a sigh of relief. Well at least there was some good news.

Jim gloomily walks off, picking up the sphere the stranger from before deposited into his possession and starts playing around with it. Sora, Riku, and I get into a little huddle.

"What do we do now?" Sora asks.

Riku shrugs. "I guess we'll just have to stick here with them for now. There's no telling what—"

Riku doesn't get to finish his sentence as we hear a clicking noise, and our heads turn to face Jim. The sphere he had is levitating in the air and shoots out a blue-green light, before it expands into an extremely large virtual map with grid-like boundaries enclosing us in. The room darkens considerably.

Hundreds of tiny yellow dots line the map as well as dozens and dozens of medium-sized models of what look to be worlds. My theory is proved correct when Dr. Doppler gasps as he peers at one close to him. "Wait a second…That's us, Montressor!" He taps the sphere and the map quickly flashes a green light, the entire landscape changing rapidly before our awestruck eyes as the map zooms through space, worlds hurtling by. Dr. Doppler points out the different landmarks with amazed delight. I have no absolutely no idea what he's talking about though. He doesn't point out any worlds Sora, Riku or I have visited.

After several seconds of the tour, the map focuses in on a world with two intersecting diagonal rings crossing over it and the rest of the map disappears, leaving us with a glowing green replica of the world.

Mr. Doppler adjusts his glasses as he stares intently at the image. "Why, that's…that's..."

"Treasure Planet," Jim breaths in awe.

"I don't believe it," Dr. Doppler says quietly. He shakes his head as he tries to make sense of what's going on. "Treasure Planet. The loot of a thousand worlds." He faces Jim. "Do you know what this means?"

"It means that the treasure is just a boat ride away," Jim grins as he throws the sphere up into the air and catches it.

"Whoever found that treasure would be the greatest explorer that ever lived! He'd be at the top of the pantheons of explorer!" Dr. Doppler exclaims.

The virtual map flashes off and light immediately floods back into the room.

"Mom, this is it," Jim's grin grows. "This is the answer to all our problems."

Mrs. Hawkins lets out a deep sigh. "Jim, there is absolutely no way I'm letting you—"

"But don't you remember? The stories?"

"That's all they were. Stories."

Jim persists on. "With just a fraction of the treasure at Treasure Planet, we could rebuild the BenBow Inn ten times over!

Mrs. Hawkins splutters in response before finally turning to Dr. Doppler for help.

"Delbert, can you _please_ explain to Jim what a ridiculous idea this is?"

Dr. Doppler straightens himself up to his full height. "It's totally _preposterous_ to traverse the entirety of space alone…" Mrs. Hawkins is pleased.

"Which is why I'm going with you!" He grabs a bag from next to him and runs off to the other side of the room.

Mrs. Hawkins is flabbergasted. "Delbert!"

He scuttles around the room, packing various items into his bag, moving from one spot to the next. "I'll use my finances to fund the expedition…Commission a ship, a captain, and crew…"

"You're not serious, are you?" Mrs. Hawkins asks.

"All my life I've waited for an adventure and now it's finally here!" The man shouts with elation. He comically dances on the spot, chanting, "Go Delbert, go Delbert!"

"Ok, that's it, you're both grounded!"

It's silent for a moment before Jim aight. "Mom…I know I keep messing things up, and…I know that I let you down." His eyes have nothing but determination in them as he looks up at his mother. "But this is my chance to make it up to you. I wanna set things right."

Mrs. Hawkins appears conflicted. She must have no idea what to do; to keep her son here safe, or to send up into space, into unknown territory, all for a shot at untold treasure. Mrs. Hawkins already lost her inn, a treasured possession of hers; she couldn't lose her son as well.

"Mrs. Hawkins?" Sora pipes up. Even though Sora called her name, everyone else's eyes glanced at him. "Would it make you feel better if…we tagged along?"

My eyes fly back to Mrs. Hawkins to see what her reaction would be. "But…you're just kids…" She trails off.

"Maybe so, Sarah," Dr. Doppler says, "but these kids fought off some unsavory-looking creatures and they seem to be able to handle themselves. Besides, the more the merrier…right?" He finishes with a hopeful smile on his face.

Mrs. Hawkins frowns and her eyes fall towards the ground for a second. She then regards her son with a sad smile on her face.

"Jim…I don't want to lose you." She brushes a strand of hair out of his face.

Jim reaches up to grasp her hand in his. "You won't. I'm gonna make you proud. You'll see." He smiles back at her.

Mrs. Hawkins heaves a very deep sigh. "Alright then. I guess there's no stopping you." She looks at every one of us. "You guys can go."

"Well," Dr. Doppler clears his throat, "there we are then." He strides off to the window, glancing out of it. "We'll begin preparations at once. Soon, we'll be off to the spaceport."

**xxxxx**

The next day, the five of us; Jim, Dr. Doppler, Sora, Riku, and I land via a transport ship at the Montressor Spaceport, Seagulls caw as they fly through the azure blue sky; diverse-looking crewmen load cargo onto ships; passengers line the docks; large ships with grand flags fly through the air.

It's a paradise for Sora since he fancies ships so much, and apparently for Jim too. Both of them observe everything with mesmerized eyes as we walk down the boardwalk of the transport ship into the spaceport.

Walking ahead of them next to Riku, I lean over to him. "How come we aren't taking the Gummi ship to Treasure Planet?"

"I thought about it, but I don't think the Gummi ship could support such a long voyage, if what Mr. Doppler said was true. If we run out of fuel, we'll be stuck, and something tells me we're not going to find any Gummi ship fuel around here," Riku said as he gazed around.

"Wait! Wait for me!" Dr. Doppler calls out from inside the transport ship. He stumbles out wearing a funny-looking, bulky, yellow and brown space suit that he can barely walk in, showing slight difficulties in getting down the boardwalk. He nearly tips over one side.

It doesn't help that he's also carrying a hefty load of luggage on his back. Jim just sighs, face-palming himself.

After asking for directions, and Dr. Doppler complaining about his spacesuit that a "pushy two-headed woman" persuaded him to buy, we find the ship we are going to be flying in to Treasure Planet: The RLS Legacy.

It floats majestically in the air, magnificent in size and splendor. The masts rise up into the sky, and even though the sails aren't spread open yet, I can tell they would be wide and sprawling.

We board the ship, watching crewmen prepare for the journey, performing various tasks like moving crates and barrels around to their appropriate places.

A large man with broad shoulders and rough and gray skin that looks just like stone is calling out orders at the top of his voice. He wears what appears to be a captain's hat and a nice decorated red jacket.

Dr. Doppler approaches him. "Good day, captain!" He speaks in a friendly voice. "Everything ship-shape?"

"Ship-shape it is sir," the man replies in his booming voice. "But I'm not the captain. The captain is aloft." He gestures up above to a slender woman as she gracefully leaps from yard to yard before swinging down and landing perfectly on her feet on the deck with a "meow." Her agility is almost inhuman.

Just like Dr. Doppler looks like a mix between a dog and a man, this woman looks like a mix between a cat and a woman. It explains the uncanny agility. She's an attractive woman, with piercing green feline eyes and a feline-looking face. Her long blue jacket sweeps down nearly to the ground, showing off slim legs in long black boots.

She takes two long strides over to the stone-looking man. "Mr. Arrow," she begins in a curt voice, as if she's going to reprimand him, "I have checked this miserable ship from stem to stern, and as usual..."Her voice surprisingly changes to a more pleased tone. "It's…spot on. Can you do nothing wrong?"

Mr. Arrow bows to her, taking his cap off. "You flatter me, Captain."

The woman moves on to Dr. Doppler next, pausing for a moment as she gives him a not-so-subtle once-over, probably wondering what he's wearing, like the rest of us are. Realization dawns on her face. "Ah, you must be Dr. Doppler. It's a pleasure to meet you." She begins knocking on the glass visage of his space suit. "Hello?" She speaks in a louder voice. "Can you hear me?"

Dr. Doppler waves his hands in front of his face. "Yes, I can, stop that banging!" He says slightly annoyed as he takes off his helmet. "And if you don't mind, I—"

The woman grasps his hand, shaking it as she completely ignores what Dr. Doppler was about to say. "I'm Captain Amelia, late of a few run-ins with the Protean Armada; nasty business, but I won't bore with you the details." She gestures over to Mr. Arrow.

"You've already met my first officer, Mr. Arrow. Sterling, tough, honest, dependable, brave and true," she rattles off.

"Captain, please," Mr. Arrow says in a bashful tone, clearly humbled by her compliments.

"Oh shut up; you know I didn't mean a word of it," the captain replies in a sarcastic voice with a tiny grin on her face.

Dr. Doppler clears his throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but I would like to present to you..." Dr. Doppler pushes Jim forward. "Jim Hawkins. Jim is the one who found the treasure—"

One of Amelia's hands immediately darts out lightning-fast to squeeze Dr. Doppler's cheeks as she glares at him viciously.

"Doctor, _please_." She suspiciously eyes two crewmen who're in earshot of our conversation. They threw a look our way at the mere mention of treasure. Amelia glares at them, an universal nonverbal sign of go away, and they slowly shuffle away, disgruntled as they return to their duties.

Amelia refocused her attention, and her icy stare, back to the doctor. "Dr. Doppler, a word with you in my office."

The next thing I knew, we're all standing in the captain's office.

She locks the door behind her as she slowly walked towards Dr. Doppler. "Dr. Doppler," she starts slowly with her hands clasped behind her back, "mentioning treasure around this particular kind of crew demonstrates a level of ineptitude that borders on…_imbecilic_. And I mean that in a nice way." Ouch.

Dr. Doppler is visibly offended. "Imbecilic?! I'll have you know that—"

"May I see the map, please?" Amelia stretches out a hand towards Jim, cutting off the doctor yet again.

Dr. Doppler looks like he wants to make a retort, but calms himself down as he motions for Jim to obey, glaring subtly at the captain.

Jim reaches into his pockets and pulls out the map, tossing it over to the captain who skillfully catches it in one hand.

"Fascinating," she breathes as she views the map with a spellbound gaze in her eyes for a moment, then she resumes her strict countenance, her voice going back to its usual business-like tone.

"Mr. Hawkins, from this moment further you will address me as captain or ma'am," she commands as she opens the door to a cabinet at the edge of the room, lifts up the lid to a box, and places the sphere inside. "Is that clear?"

Jim heaves a sigh, rolling his eyes. He doesn't do well with authority figures I can tell. This is going to be a very long journey for him.

"Mr. Hawkins?" The captain's voice gets significantly sharper as she peeks over her shoulder at him, her eyes narrowing as she demands his obedience.

"…yes ma'am," he eventually acquiesces.

A satisfied look settling on her face, she then scrutinizes Riku, Sora, and I. "And…who might you three be?"

"We're acquaintances of Jim and Dr. Doppler," Riku replies in his usually serious voice, almost like the captain's, just lacking the blunt and superior undertones. "We're just tagging along for the ride."

"I see." The captain gives us an once-over. "Well the same rules apply for you three as well. You will address me as captain or ma'am. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am," we respond in unison. Amelia isn't the type of person to cross, so it's best to do what she says.

With the rules out of the way, she moves right along to the next topic at hand. "Gentlemen, and lady, this must be kept under lock and key when not in use, and Doctor, with great respect..." She leans in dangerously close to his face, her eyes turning into slits as she hisses, "_Zip your howling screamer_."

Dr. Doppler is offended yet again. "Captain, I—"

Amelia plops in her chair as she cuts him off again. "Let this make this to you as clear as possible." Dr. Doppler looks exasperated, in disbelief that this woman cut him off for the umpteenth time that day. "I don't care much for this crew you hired. They're…" She turns her head towards her first officer.

"Mr. Arrow, what did I call them this morning?"

"A ludicrous parcel of driveling galoots, ma'am," Mr. Arrow finishes with a graceful bow.

"Yes, there you go," Amelia smiles smugly at Dr. Doppler. "Poetry."

Dr. Doppler slams his hands down on the table, incensed now as the fire rages in his eyes. "Now, see here, Captain—"

Amelia stands up as she interrupts him once more. "Doctor, I would love to do tea with you, really I would, but I have a ship to run." She straightens herself up into a ramrod-straight posture, arms behind her back.

"Mr. Arrow, see to it that these neophytes are escorted to the galleys, the youngsters will be working for the cook, Mr. Silver."

"Wait, what? The cook?" Jim is taken aback.

"Yes…" Amelia's eyes almost seemed to penetrate through Jim as she gives him a hard look. "Is there a problem?"

Jim looks like he wants to argue, but the ice-cold stare of the captain is not something you can bargain with.

"…no ma'am."

"Good. Then off with you."

Mr. Arrow escorts the five of us down to the galleys, Dr. Doppler huffing and puffing as he stomps down the stairs, the stairs shuddering slightly with each forceful step he takes.

"That...woman, that...feline!" He's so angry, he can't even speak in complete sentences. His face is slightly red with anger.

"It's my map, and she's got me busing tables!" Jim is in agreement.

Mr. Arrow claps his hands down hard on their shoulders, a stern expression on his face.

"I'll not tolerate a cross word about our Captain! There's no finer Captain in all the worlds than her!"

Once we make it to our destination, we can hear whistling from inside the galleys. Smoke fills the air, a large silhouette of a person partially visible.

"Mr. Silver?" Mr. Arrow called out.

The whistling promptly ceases. "Why, Mr. Arrow, sir!" The figure lumbers out into the light where we can better see him. He bows dramatically in front of us, a broad smile on his face.

"Bringing such distinguished folks to my humble galley. Had I known, I would have tucked in me shirt." He proceeds to tuck his apron into his striped pants.

Mr. Silver is a tall and huge man, and judging by his demeanor, a jovial sort of guy. But his giant figure isn't his most distinguishing figure.

His right peg leg is completely robotic, as well as his entire right arm, gears shifting around as he moves about. There's a small robotic device on the right side of his face and his right eye is completely robotic too, yellow with tiny little gears inside, whirring quietly.

Jim gasps. "Cyborg," he whispers under his breath.

I'm the closest to him so I hear what he said, but I don't think the others did. The words of the stranger spoken before he died at the inn yesterday are called into mind at the word Jim just uttered.

"_The cyyyyyborg." The stranger coughed. "Beware…the cyyyborg."_

I didn't get a good look at whoever was approaching the front door of the inn during the Heartless attack, but I knew the figure was large, and the stranger said to look out for a cyborg…

Examining the grin on Mr. Silver's face, a voice in the back of my head warns me to be cautious of him, regardless of how jolly he may come off as.

And if Mr. Silver really was the man who led the raid on the inn just last night and commanded the Heartless…then it really was a good thing that Sora, Riku and I are tagging along for the ride.

**xxxxx**

Sora: You know, ElvenPrincess01, your hint in the last chapter was slightly off.

ElvenPrincess01: How so?

Sora: You said that the world we would be going to would have lots and lots of treasure. But we went to Montressor first. So weren't you referring to the next _next_ world, Treasure Planet?

ElvenPrincess01: Well yeah, but you're going to both worlds, so it was fair game.

Sora: If you say so…

ElvenPrincess01: Thanks for reading! Part 2 of the Treasure Planet adventure will be coming soon! Subscribe and review! Bye!

**xxxxx**


	10. A Turn of Events

ElvenPrincess01: Yeah! I made it to chapter 10!

Riku: I didn't think you could make it this far.

ElvenPrincess01: Now you're just being mean. I think I could make it to chapter 10 of a story.

Riku: Just don't abandon the story and leave the readers hanging. Otherwise I'll be out of a job.

ElvenPrincess01: That's all you care about, isn't it?

Riku: I don't get paid for fighting Heartless.

ElvenPrincess01: Fine, fine, you make a good point. Let's move it along, shall we? Riku?

Riku: ElvenPrincess01 doesn't own Kingdom Hearts or Disney. She's broke.

ElvenPrincess01: Thanks for sharing, Riku. On to the story!

_Previous Chapter_

_Mr. Silver is a tall and huge man, and judging by his demeanor, a jovial sort of guy. But his giant figure isn't his most distinguishing figure._

_His right peg leg is completely robotic, as well as his entire right arm, gears shifting around as he moves about. There's a small robotic device on the right side of his face and his right eye is completely robotic too, yellow with tiny little gears inside, whirring quietly._

_Jim gasps. "Cyborg," he whispers under his breath._

_I'm the closest to him so I hear what he said, but I don't think the others did. The words of the stranger spoken before he died at the inn yesterday are called into mind at the word Jim just uttered._

"_The cyyyyyborg." The stranger coughed. "Beware…the cyyyborg."_

_I didn't get a good look at whoever was approaching the front door of the inn during the Heartless attack, but I knew the figure was large, and the stranger said to look out for a cyborg…_

_Examining the grin on Mr. Silver's face, a voice in the back of my head warns me to be cautious of him, regardless of how jolly he may come off as._

_And if Mr. Silver really was the man who led the raid on the inn just last night and commanded the Heartless…then it really was a good thing that Sora, Riku and I are tagging along for the ride._

**Chapter 10: A Turn of Events**

"May I present to you Dr. Doppler, the financier of our expedition," Mr. Arrow introduces the esteemed doctor as he steps forward.

"Love the outfit," the cyborg compliments him as a thin red laser shoots out from his robotic eye and scans the doctor's body suit. It looks to be making the astrophysicist a little uncomfortable.

"Well, thank you," he says as he covers up his private areas. "I love the eye." Trying to move on to a new topic of conversation to get out of the "spotlight", he immediately latches on to Jim's shoulder, pulling him forward.

"This young lad is Jim Hawkins." Mr. Silver amiably stretches out a hand to Jim.

"Jimbo!" Jim stares at his hand and then back up at Mr. Silver, silently refusing to shake hands with him.

Mr. Silver doesn't look too put off by it though, shrugging his shoulders as if he's used to such behavior. Or maybe he's just a forgiving person.

His eyes fall on Sora, Riku, and me, briefly scrutinizing us. "And who might you three be?"

"This is Sora, Riku, and Kairi," Dr. Doppler says.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all," Mr. Silver smiles, making no attempt to shake our hands, most likely expecting us to refuse to shake his hand like Jim did.

He walks back over inside his kitchen to stand in front of a cutting-board. "Now, don't be _too_ put off by my hardware."

I stand amazed as he produces all sorts of gadgets from his robotic arm—a pair of scissors, a knife, and more—and slices, dices and scrambles all sorts of ingredients together before he mixes them all in a skillet.

He heats up the skillet with what looks to be some kind of fire-producing contraption he conjures up from his arm and dumps the contents into a large pot. He adds some kind of seasoning to it and stirs the food with a spoon. Mr. Silver looked like an expert chef throughout the whole process.

After taking a sip of whatever he's cooking with a ladle, he spoons some of it into bowls that he hands to each one of us.

"Here. Have a taste of me bonzabeast stew."

I peer down into the bowl's contents to see green, lumpy mush. If this is what we're going to be eating during the voyage, then this is going to be a long journey.

Sora and Riku are daring each other to see who would be the first to eat the unappetizing food while Jim stares down at his bowl as if the soup is going to eat him. I don't blame him. I don't know if I can bring myself to eat something like this.

Dr. Doppler is much braver than the rest of us, lapping at the stew with his tongue to taste-test. He makes a noise of contentment.

"Delightfully tangy. Yet robust," he says, pleasantly surprised.

"Old family recipe," Mr. Silver states.

An eyeball startlingly rises to the surface of my stew and I yelp in horror, nearly dropping the bowl onto the floor.

Mr. Silver comes over laughing. "That was part of the family!" He roars, nearly falling over to the floor in raucous laughter. I don't know whether to join in or not. Jim is giving the cyborg a look that is clearly questioning his sanity.

After a few seconds, Mr. Silver's laughs slowly subsided.

"Just a joke, dearie," he grins as he promptly sticks his fingers into my bowl and plucks out the eyeball, plopping it into his mouth. I try very hard not to show disgust on my face though I'm not really sure if I succeed or not.

"Go on, boy," the chef gestures to Jim. "Try some."

Jim resumes staring down at his untouched soup for a few moments in reluctance, until the top half of his spoon morphs into a pink blob with eyes. He gasps as the entire spoon finishes morphing into a small pink blob-shaped creature that gazes up at Jim with excited eyes, panting like an eager dog that's begging to be petted.

"Morph, you jiggle-headed blob of mischief!" Mr. Silver shakes his head, clearly amused. The blob transforms into a straw that proceeds to swiftly drink up Jim's stew. "So that's where you've been hiding."

The creature floats around us before returning to Jim, snuggling against his cheek for a second. Jim laughs at the affection. "What is this thing?"

"'What is this thing?'"The creature imitates in a high-pitched voice as he morphs into an identical miniature version of Jim that stands atop his finger.

"Why, he's a Morph!" Mr. Silver answers as if the fact should have been obvious to just about anyone. Morph changes back to his true, irregular form and zips back to the chef, snuggling with him affectionately.

"Rescued him while I was on Proteus. He took a liking to me and we've been together ever since." The cyborg cuddles with Morph as they have a moment it seems.

The distant noise of a whistle sounds from above deck. "We're about to get underway," Mr. Arrow announces. He looks at Dr. Doppler. "Would you like to see the launch?" He kindly asks him.

The doctor gasps in delight. "Lead the way!"

Jim sneakily attempts to follow after them, but Mr. Arrow isn't having any of that, and sticks an arm out in front of him.

"Mr. Hawkins and the others are to stay here in your charge, Mr. Silver." Mr. Silver spits out some soup he's taste-testing over the stove, the liquid flying onto the opposite wall.

"Begging your pardon, sir, but—"

"Captain's orders!" Mr. Arrow bellows. "And make sure they are kept busy." He turns on his heel as he departs up the stairs, effectively ignoring the spluttered protests of Jim and Mr. Silver. As soon as he disappears from sight with Mr. Doppler, they collectively let out a huge sigh.

Well at least they can agree on one thing. They both don't want to be in this situation right now.

Resigning himself to accept the orders from the higher-ups, Mr. Silver's mismatched eyes run over us. "So the captain's put you four in my charge, eh?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Riku replies.

Mr. Silver doesn't say anything and returns back to the stove, humming quietly to himself as the four of us loiter about, not really knowing what to do. Mr. Silver seems to have forgotten about us. But that can't be possible when he was just talking to us five seconds ago. Perhaps there's nothing for us to do now. It seems he has everything under control.

Jim picks up a purp fruit from a barrel, tossing it in the air once. He comments that the purp fruits look just like the purp fruit on Montressor. After a couple more questions, I realize that Jim is indirectly questioning the cyborg about the attack on the inn. There's a suspicious glint in his eyes, there's no mistaking it.

Either the cook had nothing to do with the raid last night, or he's just a really good actor, because he gives no indication on his face or in the tone he responds with that he is familiar with anything Jim is saying. He jumps through all the hoops perfectly, but I can tell from Jim's face that it does little to quell Jim's skepticisms of him.

Another whistle sounds from above deck. "Time to cast off!"

"Off with you kiddos now," Mr. Silver says as he ushers us towards the staircase. Call me crazy, but he almost looks relieved to send us off. "They'll be plenty of work for you later."

We go above deck to see crewmen scurrying up the shrouds of the ship as Mr. Arrow shouts out orders at the top of his voice from a position below the crow's nest.

"Unfurl all the solar sails!"

The crewmen pull on the ropes and loosen up the sails, unleashing several wide sails that resemble the shape of a fan. The engines flare up and the next thing I know, the ship rises steadily into the air.

As they receive energy from the sun, the sails begin to light up gradually and glimmer, expanding out even more as they do so until they have stretched out completely.

Just a few seconds later, my body becomes almost lightless and my feet rise off the ground several inches, as if gravity is no longer controlling me.

"Whoa!" I exclaim, before I realize the same thing is happening to everyone else on the ship.

"Mr. Snoff, engage artificial gravity!" Captain Amelia calls down to one of the crewmen. Two seconds later, a purple light flashes across the deck, and we all land back on our feet.

A couple more orders and a slight lurch later, we whisk off into the sky, leaving the port of Montressor, and a most likely worried Mrs. Hawkins, behind us, as we head towards our destination where treasures untold await: Treasure Planet.

The wind blows through my hair and pelts my face. A huge flock of seagulls fly past us, cawing. Huge whale-like creatures sail by, swimming through the blue, cloudy sky like it's water. And when I say the whale-like creatures are big, they're _big_. Many of them are bigger than the ship itself. One of them passes over the ship, and I watch its entire length pass over us.

Just like when we first arrived at the Montressor Spaceport, Jim and Sora are the most fascinated people on the ship, leaning their heads over the edge to get a better look at the sights. They're a lot alike. I silently pray they don't fall off.

Unfortunately, our awe is short-lived as Mr. Arrow puts us to work. Jim and I are ordered to scrub the decks while Sora and Riku are sent on another task below.

I dip the mop into the mop bucket and slide it back and forth across the floor. Mr. Silver said if it's not spotless when we're done, he's going to make us do it over again. Better get it right on the first try.

It's a pretty mundane task though, and I wish I could do something a little more...exciting.

_Well it could be worse_, I think to myself. _You could be cleaning up bathrooms right now. _I shudder at the disgusting thought. Many of the crewmen don't appear to have the best manners or hygiene. The bathrooms on the ship must be horrible, even already. I wonder if Sora and Riku are having to deal with them.

"So what world are you from?" I spin around to see Jim mopping nearby, his eyes on me.

"Destiny Islands," I reply. Technically, I wasn't born there, but I _did_ grow up there, even though I can hardly remember anything about it thanks to the memory loss.

"Destiny Islands…" Jim muses on the words. "How far is it from Montressor?"

I don't know how to answer that question at all. Montressor is a good distance away from the Mysterious Tower, that much I know, but how far is it from the Islands? I venture a guess.

"It's…pretty far." Vague, but it's all I have to go on at the moment. Destiny Islands didn't show up on the map the sphere showed us in Dr. Doppler's mansion last night. Who knew the distance?

"What are you guys doing all the way out here?"

"We're hunting down Heartless. They're really bad creatures that try to destroy worlds, and we have to stop them."

"Heartless?" Jim frowns. "I never heard of those before."

We turn around as a few Shadows emerge out of nowhere on deck, rising up from shadows on the floor.

Jim is taken aback, holding his mop in front of him in surprise. "Whoa, what are those things?"

"_Those_ are the Heartless," I answer as I will my Keyblade into my hand. "Don't freak out, I got this." Since there are only a few weak Shadows, I simply take them out with several well-aimed Fire attacks.

Jim is still flabbergasted as he scans the deck after I'm done, wide-eyed. "W-what happened to them?"

"I just destroyed them. Trust me, they're bad news. Don't let them get close to you."

"But what were they doing here?"

"They like to collect hearts. They'll randomly come out of nowhere to attack people and steal their hearts. They attacked your mother's inn last night."

"You mean _they_ were the 'unsavory-looking creatures' the doctor was referring to?"

"Exactly."

Jim ponders on this for a second. His eyes flash to my hand.

"What kind of weapon is that?" He cocks his head at it.

"Oh this? It's a Keyblade." I hold it out so the brunette can get a better look at it.

"A Keyblade? What's that?"

"It's a weapon that can defeat Heartless. I just summon it when I need to use it." I make the blade disappear, then I make it reappear in an instant.

"Cool," Jim breathes, his eyes becoming as wide as dinner plates. He takes a couple steps forward.

"I've never seen anything like it." His eyes rake the intricate designs of my Keyblade. "How can you summon it like that?"

"I just…think about it and summon it. I'm a chosen Keyblade wielder, so I have this ability."

"Wait a sec..." Jim cocks his head. "You mean to tell me that you beat these…_Heartless…_ with _that_?" His voice is nothing but skeptical.

"Hey, it may look harmless, but it packs a pretty mean punch," I defend my weapon's girly-looking and innocent form. I thought just as much as Jim at first, but that isn't important at the moment. I still beat Heartless with it nonetheless.

"Do your friends have Keyblades like you as well?"

"Yeah, they do."

A slow smirk creeps across Jim's face. "Do they have girly-looking Keyblades like yours?" He teases.

I playfully narrow my eyes at him. "_No_, they do not. Keyblades come in a variety of shapes and sizes. And theirs don't look anything like mine."

"And what's yours called?"

"Called?"

"Well yeah." Jim shrugs his shoulders. "I mean, don't people usually name their swords and stuff?"

I rack my brain, trying to recall what the name of my Keyblade is. Sora told me his is named Kingdom Key. I can only assume that all Keyblade wielders named their weapons. But what's the name of my mine?

Another memory flashes into my mind, though this time, luckily, it doesn't enter with a headache.

_Sora and I were sitting outside on the steps that led into the Tower._

"_What are you going to name your Keyblade, Kairi?" Sora asked._

_I shrug. "I don't know. You named yours Kingdom Key. The King named his Star Seeker when he first got his Keyblade. I have no idea what to call mine." I summon my Keyblade to my hand and stare down at the flowery weapon._

_Sora placed his hands behind his head as he grins at me. "Hey, don't sweat it. You'll think of something. Riku still hasn't come up with a name for his yet."_

_Thinking about the appropriate name for my newly-gained weapon, I gazed at the Paopu fruit keychain that was connected to it. A legend Selphie told me about the fruit once before comes to mind._

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what."

_Destinies…Remaining a part of each other's life no matter what. It was like never being able to let go of the other person. Like you and the other person were locked in an eternal embrace…Destiny…Embrace…Being embraced by destiny, entwined by fate._

_A smile settled onto my face. "I got it. The name of my Keyblade. Destiny's Embrace," I announce happily, holding the weapon out in front of me. _

_Sora grinned wider. "Nice. I like it."_

"Hey, Kairi? Kairi? Helllooo!" I come to out of my recollections, Jim's voice piercing through.

"Huh? What?" It takes a moment or two for me to regain my surroundings and remember I'm on a ship, and I'm supposed to be answering a question.

I shake my head. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"You ok? You just zoned out there."

"Yeah, I'm fine." I think. "Anyways, to answer your question, it's Destiny's Embrace. The name of my Keyblade is Destiny's Embrace."

"Destiny's Embrace…" Jim nods his head before smirking again. "I thought you would've named it Delicate Flower or something lame like that," he jokes.

"Hey!" Jim starts laughing, and I find myself laughing along with him. He's a pretty good guy to hang with. He may come across sometimes as being antisocial and moody, but once I started talking to him, I discovered there's more to him than that. It's almost like his sullen attitude is just a mask of his humorous disposition beneath.

A hulking crewman with four monstrous arms rudely pushes Jim out of his way as he shuffles by. He turns to glare at him as if Jim bumped into him. "Watch it, cabin boy," he growls, and stalks off.

Ignoring him, Jim's eyes fall upon three crewmen on the other side of the deck, whispering loudly about something. When they notice Jim staring at them, they immediately hush up, glaring at him.

"Whatcha looking at, weirdo?" One of the crewmen snaps.

"Yeah, whatcha looking at, weirdo?" Another crewman echoes. Not a very friendly group of people.

There's a slithering, hissing noise behind Jim and I, and we look up to see a slender, spider-like creature with crab legs, wicked-looking yellow eyes, and long arms with pincers. He skulks down the shrouds to land right in front of Jim.

"Cabin boyssssss should learn to mind their own businesssss," he hisses at Jim.

Jim doesn't back down though from the newcomer's threat. "Why? You got something to hide, Bright-Eyes?" He mocks.

The spider-like creature's eyes narrow into slits in anger, and before I know it, he's holding Jim up in the air by his collar.

"Maybe your earsssss don't work so well."

Jim makes a disgusted face, twisting his head away. "Yeah." He coughs. "Too bad my nose works just fine."

That's the last straw. "You impudent little—"The creature slams Jim's body against a nearby mast with a thud.

As soon as that happens, the other crewman start crowding around, inching in closer. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" They chant.

I glare at the spider creature. "Put him down!" I demand, before things get too out of hand.

He takes his eyes off Jim for a second to snarl at me. "Stay out of this, girl," he spits before returning his attention to his target.

"Any last words, cabin boy?" He brushes his pincer-like hand against Jim's chin softly, but with deadly intentions.

I'm about to tell this guy off, regardless of what could happen to me, but I don't have to, since Mr. Silver is suddenly present. He grabs the creature's hand that was just threatening Jim's life two seconds ago.

"Mr. Scroop..." He lazily bites into an apple, the creature scowling at him unhappily. "Have you ever seen what's happened to a purp fruit when you squeeze it real _tight_?" On 'tight', Mr. Arrow squeezes the creature's arm tightly, causing him to cry out in pain and release Jim.

He massages his sore wrist. Mr. Arrow descends down the stairs.

"What's all this commotion for?" He shouts at the bystanders at large. He paces across the desk, staring hard into each of the crewmen's eyes. "I'll have you know that I will not allow any _brawling_ on this ship. Any offenders will be sent to the brig"—he stares fiercely into Mr. Scroop's eyes—"permanently." The spider-like creature scowls at him.

"Are we clear?" Mr. Arrow presses for an answer.

"…transparent," Mr. Scroop yields.

Mr. Arrow then strides off as Mr. Silver shooes all the crewmen back to their stations. He lets out a short laugh, and then when the deck is clear, he rounds on Jim.

"Jimbo, what are you doing? I gave you a job to do!"

"I was doing it until that _thing_ started picking a fight with me!"

"That doesn't matter!" Mr. Silver roars, silencing Jim. "I want this deck cleaned so well I'll be able to see my reflection on it! Kairi!"

"Y-yes?" I stutter, quivering slightly. _Oh crap, am I in trouble too? I didn't even do anything! I was just about to intervene in that confrontation!_

"Keep an eye on this one..." He narrows his eyes a bit at Jim. "You too, Morph." The pink blob floats over to us, eager to obey. "Make sure there are no more distractions." And on that note, Mr. Silver stalks off, his coat flapping behind him angrily.

**xxxxx**

The next few days are a haze of busy work, which consists of activities such as scrapping sea urchins off the the ship, (a task I am none too fond of, considering the enormous amounts of urchins plastered like glue on the sides of the ship), peeling potatoes, and washing dishes. Mainly washing dishes.

There was an attack by some Shadows and Air Pirate Heartless once or twice, but it looked like the crew had seen these creatures before, because as soon as the Heartless were spotted, they rushed to get their guns and blast them into oblivion. They didn't give Sora, Riku, and I a chance to do much.

Jim's been spending a lot of time with Mr. Silver, the older man taking his job of keeping the brunette in his charge seriously, spending nearly every waking minute with him to "keep him out of trouble."

At first, things were a bit rocky with them, but their relationship has progressively improved as the cyborg taught the fortune hunter the ropes. Literally. He taught him how to properly tie a knot to secure a lifeline, along with other skills, like how to navigate a longboat.

Granted, he taught some of the same stuff to the rest of us, but it was clear that he had taken a real liking to Jim. And it appears that Jim no longer harbors any ill feelings towards Mr. Silver, as I often see them conversing in a friendly manner, with no aggression at all. Like a mentor with his precious pupil.

I talk to Riku one night in the cabin he and Sora share with some of the other crewmen. Sora's fast asleep on his bed, snoring softly. He's been doing a lot of sleeping as of late, but then again, he does a lot of sleeping in general. Somehow he never gets busted for shrinking on his duties by Mr. Silver.

"What do you think of Mr. Silver?" Riku asks me out of the blue.

"What do you mean?"

"Like what do you make of him?"

I think about it, debating on whether or not I should tell Riku my initial doubts about the cyborg. He hadn't done anything recently to make me question his genuineness.

"Well, to be honest, when we first met him, I thought that he might be…hiding something. Jim suspected that he might be the cyborg that guy at the inn warned him about, but I don't believe he thinks that now."

"Have you noticed Mr. Silver's been spending a lot of time with the crewmen in the hangout area?"

"Yeah, to tell them stories and stuff." I casually rock back and forth on the crate I'm sitting on. "He's a storyteller."

Riku crosses his arms over his chest and he stares down at the floor, his eyebrows creased. He's in deep thinking mode. "I don't know. I get this vibe that when we're not around…they're plotting something in secret.

I hate to admit it but Riku may be onto something. There were those three crewmen talking secretly amongst themselves the day Jim and I encountered Scroop. Would whatever they were discussing have anything to with this alleged scheme Riku was suspecting?

Before we can discuss it any further, the ship violently lurches to the right, knocking me clean off the crate I was seated on and unceremoniously onto the floor on my butt.

"Ow," I moan, rubbing the sore area.

"What was that?" Sora bolts awake thanks to the jolt, looking around frantically as he hurries to his feet.

One way or another, Riku doesn't get thrown off his seat like I did. He bends over and he stretches out a hand to me. "Here."

I grasp his hand and he helps me back up to my feet. "Thanks."

He simply nods his head. "Come on, let's go see what's going on."

We go above deck to see Jim and Mr. Silver freshly arrived on the scene. "What in the world is going on?!" Mr. Silver desires to know.

Dr. Doppler gasps from where he's perched above. "Oh my goodness!" His voice displays pure terror. "The star Pelusa…It turned into a _supernova_!"

Off in the distance behind the ship, I spot a huge, inflating explosion that's sending a dozen fireballs at us fast.

"Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!" Captain Amelia yells to the creature at the wheel.

"All hands, fasten your lifelines!" Mr. Arrow yells.

Everyone is in a flurry as we scurry to the masts to secure the lifelines around our bodies as a wave blows through that almost makes us stumble.

The fireballs from the explosion zip past us at blistering speed, some of them striking the sails. A couple crewmen use cannon-fire to shoot down any that veer too close to us.

Nearly everyone else goes to work securing the sails at Captain Amelia's order, climbing up the masts to do so. I try hard not to look down from my position high above.

We succeed in the task only to gaze in horror as a colossal piece of the star slowly approaches the ship, potential collision only seconds away. A few of the crewmen run away screaming in fear. There's no way we can survive this.

Only a few seconds before the collision however, the star pauses in its trajectory before moving in the opposite direction, like it's being pulled by some invisible force.

And that's when I see what's pulling it in: a massive area of swirling gases with a gaping hole at the center of it.

"The star," Dr. Doppler gasps. "It's…it's evolving into a…_black hole_!"

And we're being pulled in to it, our ship speeding towards the hole as it attempts to suck us in. Captain Amelia is doing her best to steer our vessel out of the gravitational pull.

An explosion rises out from the black hole itself, sending out a giant wave that nearly knocks us off our feet.

"These waves," the Captain curses. "They're so erratic!"

"No, no, Captain, they're not erratic at all!" Dr. Doppler shouts from where he stands in front of a monitor with data on it. "In fact, there's going to be another one in precisely 47.2 seconds, followed by the biggest one of them all!"

"Perfect!" She grins. "We'll ride that one out! Mr. Arrow!" The feline calls to the first officer. "Unfurl the sails!"

Mr. Arrow is in disbelief, since the crew had just secured them at her behest, but nonetheless, orders the crew to loosen the sails. The crewmen loudly complain about having just secured them before running off to do their job.

The captain then orders Jim to fasten the lifelines as tight as possible. "Lifelines secured, Captain!" He calls out to her when's he done.

Just a few seconds later, another wave rocks the boat. Several seconds later, Dr. Doppler shouts at the top of his lungs, "The last wave! Here it comes!"

"Everyone hold on to your lifelines!" The captain shouts. "It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

Sora, Riku, and I hold on to the masts for dear life as we drift down into the black hole, the sky around us darkening. I squeeze my eyes shut as I imagine happy thoughts. In my mind I'm back in Spira, playing in the hot springs with Yuna, Rikku, and Paine.

And then, the biggest wave of them all rushes out, sending us careening out of the black hole as the solar sails light up and the engines flare out. We zoom off into the night-blue sky, leaving the black hole far, far behind us. I let out a sigh of relief as I loosen my hold on the mast. The crew starts to whoop in cheer.

The Captain saunters down the stairs. "Well, well, not bad, Mr. Silver." One side of her mouth turns up in a smile. "Looks like your cabin boy did a splendid job of securing the lifelines. You taught him well."

The two of them chuckle, playfully nudging each other at Jim's achievement.

"All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?" There's no reply. Everyone glanced around, looking for the man.

"Arrow?" The Captain calls out again. Mr. Scroop strolls down the deck towards the captain, the crew members moving off to the sides to make a pathway for him.

He stops in front of the woman, a somber and grievous expression on his face. "I'm afraid, the captain has been lost." He holds out a hand that contains Mr. Arrow's hat.

Shocked and clearly distressed, the Captain slowly clutches the object in her hands.

"His lifeline was…not secured," Mr. Scroop adds.

All eyes automatically flash to Jim, including the Captain's. Jim can't believe it what he's hearing. "No, that can't be, I checked them all!" He runs over to where the knots for the lifelines are, stopping suddenly when he sees that one of them is missing. Mr. Arrow's.

"I did, I checked them all. They were secure…"His shoulders deflate as a look of utter devastation registers on his face.

The Captain isn't at all persuaded, judging by the look on her face, but says nothing as she glances down at Mr. Arrow's hat. She strokes it softly. "Mr. Arrow"—she clears her throat before continuing —"was a very good officer." When she looks up at us, her eyes are full of sadness. "Better than what we could ever hope to be…But he knew the risks, as do we all." She turns halfway to walk back up the stairs. "Resume your posts." Her voice is startlingly quiet. "We carry on."

No sooner than she leaves, Jim runs off.

xxxxx

_Sora and Riku were sparring with their Keyblades in the courtyard of the Mysterious Tower. I was perched on the steps in front of the turret, my knees tucked into my chest and my chin resting on top of them, a disappointed expression upon my face. _

_The doors opened and out stepped the King. He saw me sitting there, pausing for a moment. "Gee, what's the matter, Kairi?" He asked concernedly. _

_I heaved a deep sigh. "Why was I made a Keyblade wielder? I'm obviously never going to be on Sora and Riku's level. They've been training with swords for years. I'll never catch up with them." I tucked my knees in to my chest tighter._

"_Gosh Kairi, I didn't know you felt that way. But ya shouldn't worry about something like that. You're a great Keyblade wielder."_

"_Sure, but am I on Sora and Riku's level?"_

_I could sense the King choosing his words carefully so as not to upset me anymore than what I already was. "I think the three of you bring something different to the table, something that makes you different from each other."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Well, for Riku, his specialty is strength and agility." Mickey observed the mock-fight between my two closest friends. "He's a hard person to knock down, and if he does fall over, he's able to swiftly get back on his feet. Plus he's adept in reacting quickly and effectively to changes in battle."_

"_For Sora, his specialty is speed. He's able to move around quickly and jump from one spot to another, or speedily roll out of the way, sometimes making it a little difficult for either one of you to get a hit on him."_

"_And…my specialty is…?" I waited for the King's answer._

"_For you, Kairi, your specialty is magic."_

"_Magic?" I tilt my head. _

"_Right." The King smiles. "While you may think you're lagging behind, you're a head above Sora and Riku in magic proficiency."_

"_I am?"_

_Mickey nodded. "The three of you pick up the techniques relatively quickly, but you master them quicker than they do. And your magic spells are stronger."_

"_They are? Huh…I never really noticed it."_

"_What I'm trying to tell you Kairi is that ya shouldn't sell yourself short. Everyone's got something special about them." Mickey smiled wider._

_xxxxx_

Feeling the urge to relieve myself, I wake up from my dream and make a beeline to the bathroom. When I finish, I notice the clear dark skies outside a porthole and think it might not actually be a bad idea to get some fresh air. It's a bit stuffy down in the cabins.

It's the middle of the night, which means everyone should be fast asleep below deck. So I am a little surprised to see Jim suspended on the shrouds above deck, his shoulders hunched over in disappointment. He must still be frustrated over Mr. Arrow's death.

Frowning, I slowly walk over to him. "Hey," I say softly.

He barely rotates his head to glance at me. "Hey." His voice is flat and lifeless.

"Are…you ok?" I lean against the side of the boat, looking up at him. I inwardly slap myself for asking such a stupid question. _Of course he's not ok! He's obviously down in the dumps!_

Jim gazes out at the sky, not answering my question.

I sigh in sympathy. The guilt is eating him up. "Jim…you know it's not your fault."

"Yes it is," he mumbles. "If it wasn't for me, Mr. Arrow would still be alive."

"Jim, the lifeline not being tied tight enough could have happened to anyone."

"Yeah, but it happened to me!" Jim rounds on me, his voice suddenly becoming louder. "Don't you get it? I'm just a screw-up. No matter what I do"—he turns away from me and his voice returns to its quiet volume —"I'll still screw things up…Maybe that's why my dad left me…because he couldn't stand me anymore."

More sympathy floods my face as I learned the truth about Jim's father. "Jim…" I'm not quite sure what to say. I have an urge to reach out and touch his shoulder, but I don't think he wants to be pitied right now.

"Kairi!" I hear someone stomping up the stairs and recognize Mr. Silver and his peg-leg. "You best be getting to bed. You have a long day ahead of you."

"But—"

"That's an order."

I throw one last sympathetic look at Jim before I reluctantly remove myself from my spot and head back to my cabin.

Mr. Silver pauses as he passes by me. "Don't worry," he says with a wink. "I'll take care of this one."

I'm halfway down below when, curiosity getting the better of me, I obscure my body from view and peek out at Jim and Mr. Silver.

Mr. Silver gives Jim some reassuring words before Jim seems to have enough of the consolation and leaps off the shrouds, yelling at Mr. Silver about him being a screw-up and what not. He stomps off and props himself up against a mast, his back facing Mr. Silver in anger.

But the chef doesn't give up, continuing to talk to him, in a softer tone this time. He allays Jim's doubts, even if only a little bit, by encouraging Jim to not give up and chart his own path for the future. He even embraces him at one point, a surprising sign of affection for him that I don't think he does very often.

With Jim looking a little less melancholic, he is sent off to bed, and I hurry down the stairs before either of them can accuse me of spying.

xxxxx

"Land ho!" Later that morning, the distant call of the crewman in the crow's nest wakes me up. My eyes flutter open as I, groggy, try to focus on my surroundings. I slowly adjust to the influx of sunlight seeping in from a nearby porthole.

I stretch my arms above my head and moan as I can feel a crick in my neck. I massage the area tenderly. I must have slept on my neck the wrong way last night. Typical.

It takes me a minute or two before I finally amble my way towards deck, still a little sleepy, but before I even get there, I know something's wrong.

I can hear the shouts of crewmen above me, their voices increasing in volume the closer I get to the staircase.

Running above deck, I see countless scurrying all over the deck, every which way, and for a second, I think we're under attack. The sleepiness is jolted from my eyes. But then I am stunned to see the attack isn't what I think it is. It's not a Heartless attack( it's a mutiny.

Mr. Silver is standing in front of a pirate flag that has just been hoisted, his chest puffed out with the same aura of effrontery Captain Amelia carries herself with.

Thoughts swim through my mind as I discover that I've been completely wrong about Mr. Silver's recent behavior. Riku was right. He and the rest of the crew _were_ planning something. They were planning a coup.

"Kairi!" I look up to see Sora waving a hand at me from where he stands near the stairs leading up to the captain's office. At another part of the ship I see some of the crewmen gathering up guns in their hands from the armory, and I make a fast dash for Sora.

Riku, Jim, Mr. Doppler, and the captain of course, are already present in the room. She furiously rips open the cabinet that contains the map, pulls out a gun, and loads it up with bullets.

"Pirates on my ship? They're all going to pay for this." She tosses the gun to Mr. Doppler.

"Doctor, familiar with these?"

Dr. Doppler holds the weapon awkwardly like he's never seen it before, turning it over as he examines it. "Oh, I've seen…Well I—"He jumps nearly ten feet in the air as he accidentally fires out a purple blast from the gun, narrowly missing the woman.

"No, no I haven't," he admits as she rolls her eyes.

"Jim, defend this with your life." She throws the sphere towards Jim, but it is caught by Morph who attempts to swallow it.

"Morph, give me that!" Jim scolds the creature before he gains possession of the map and sticks it in his pocket.

The captain takes another gun and fires a huge gaping hole in the floor, big enough for someone to jump into. "Everyone, get in," she orders. Without a moment to lose, we jump right in, one after the other.

We run through a few winding pathways in the engine room, avoiding wires hanging from the ceiling, and crates and barrels in our way on the floor. From the sounds behind us, I think it's safe to assume some of the crewmen are hot on our heels. Most likely ones who possess guns.

The captain leads us through a side door and just barely slams the door in their faces after Mr. Doppler trips over the threshold. "To the longboat, quickly!" She commands as she seals the door.

The room we're in has two longboats suspended in the air by cables and we hop into one as the captain pulls down a lever. A door on the floor opens slowly below us, revealing the sky. A light breeze blows across my bare arms.

The captain gracefully hops into the boat and takes out another gun. _Where is she getting all these guns from? _

Morph flies into Jim's pocket and swallows the sphere whole. "Morph!" Jim frantically reaches out his hands to grab the slippery creature but fails as he flies away from the longboat.

"NO!" Jim is on his feet and springs off the boat onto the sill to chase after him.

"Jim!" I shout after him, but I am forced to divert my attention to the enemy at hand as they burst through the door, firing countless shots at us wildly.

Captain Amelia immediately returns fire. "Chew on this, you pus-filled boils!" She yells as she lets loose a volley of gunfire, her eyes blazing.

The rounds from the enemy are firing quite close to us, a couple of them whizzing by my ear. Something needs to be done before one of us gets hit.

"Sora and Riku, why don't we use an Aeroga spell on them to deflect their shots?"

They nod their heads in agreement and we immediately summon our Keyblades to our hands, taking aim.

"Aeroga!" We shout together. Our attacks combine together to create a large whirlwind that deflects the bullets aimed at us and hurls the crew members onto their back. Our reward is a temporary pause in gunfire.

A blast from our side fires upward and hits a bulky gear above, causing it to fall down onto the sill. The sill gives way and the crewmen, who are all on it, fall through, screaming as they fall into space.

I thought the captain was the one who did that, but then I see that it was actually Dr. Doppler. The captain stares at him in astonishment. She can't believe it either. This was the same guy who almost blew her head off with the same gun mere minutes ago.

"Were you really aiming for that?" She asks in amazement.

The doctor looks down at his gun for a second before looking up at her. "You know, I actually was!"

Mr. Silver strides into the room and pulls up the lever that controls the floor beneath the longboats. The door reverses, slowly closing back.

The captain gasps, peering over the side with a scowl. "Blast it!" She rapidly scans the area above our heads.

"Doctor, shoot that forward cable." She gestures with her head at it. "I'll take this one."

A few seconds later, they take fire, striking the cables and knocking the boat loose. The boat lurches and falls down and, to my relief, Jim just barely manages to jump down onto it as the back of the boat scrapes the door before it can close completely. We drop away into the air.

He doesn't manage to get completely on the longboat though, and his body dangles dangerously in the air as he holds onto the boat with one hand.

"Jim!" Riku stretches out a hand towards the brunette and helps him into the boat.

The captain pulls on a rope and a solar sail flares out, the boat freezing in its descent. She then begins pressing buttons on a control pad.

"Parameters met. Hydraulics engaged!" The engines blaze out blue flames and we zoom through the air, racing away from our previous vessel.

"Captain! Laser ball at 12 o'clock!" The doctor points as a huge laser ball hurtles towards us. The feline tries to move the boat out of its path, but her attempt is too late, our boat already in its trajectory.

The ball crashes into the sail with a strong hissing noise as it burns the material, and completely rips off the back part of the boat.

The boat falls into critical condition at the impact. I fall onto my back at the impact, and I have enough sense to grab on to the side of the boat lest I go tumbling off into the open air like the crewmen from earlier.

The boat spirals downwards at an alarming rate, seconds away from crashing into the ground. As the boat violently twists through the air, I do my best to hang on for dear life.

The longboat veers down into a field of giant mushrooms. It just barely clears a direct hit with one of the mushroom stems, but not completely, and the side of the boat bangs forcefully against it. The sudden jolt rams my head against the side of the vessel, and I instantly blackout, remembering no more.

xxxxx

ElvenPrincess01: Whoa! This chapter was a lot longer than I expected. I actually was going to keep writing but there's still some details that I need to work out, so this gives me a chance to figure out something to do. Anyways, thanks for reading!

Riku: Thanks for the continued support. Without you I'd be unemployed.

ElvenPrincess01: Later!

xxxxx


	11. Secret Mission

ElvenPrincess01: Wow! Ok, so this chapter was supposed to be a _lot_ longer, over 9,200 words, which I thought was way too long for a chapter, so I split up the chapter into two separate chapters. Think of this chapter as part 1. Part 2 will be posted either later day or tomorrow at the latest, so you won't have to wait long for the next installment. I just need to work out one of the final parts of the chapter, and then that chapter will be put up.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter _

"_Captain! Laser ball at 12 o'clock!" The doctor points as a huge laser ball hurtles towards us. The feline tries to move the boat out of its path, but her attempt is too late, our boat already in its trajectory._

_The ball crashes into the sail with a strong hissing noise as it burns the material, and completely rips off the back part of the boat._

_The boat falls into critical condition at the impact. I fall onto my back at the impact, and I have enough sense to grab on to the side of the boat lest I go tumbling off into the open air like the crewmen from earlier. _

_The boat spirals downwards at an alarming rate, seconds away from crashing into the ground. As the boat violently twists through the air, I do my best to hang on for dear life._

_The longboat veers down into a field of giant mushrooms. It just barely clears a direct hit with one of the mushroom stems, but not completely, and the side of the boat bangs forcefully against it. The sudden jolt rams my head against the side of the vessel, and I instantly blackout, remembering no more._

**Chapter 11: Secret Mission**

"Kairi! Kairi! Can you hear me?!" That's Sora's voice.

I open my eyes to see Sora's anxious face hovering over mine. Relief washes over him when I awaken. Jim is behind him, peering down at me.

I moan as a dull, throbbing pain echoes in the back of my head, and my fingers gently massage the tender area. I look around to see that I'm lying on the ground in a clearing, the towering mushroom plants bordering it.

"What happened?"

"We crash-landed here," Sora replies. "You weren't responding, so I figured you must have blacked out sometime before we crashed. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I assure him, but as I attempt to sit up, the throbbing in my head worsens a bit and I wince.

"You sure?" Sora must have noticed me wincing.

"Of course. It's going to take more than a bump to my head to take me out," I smile. I feel the urge to rub my head again, but I don't want Sora to see and worry even more about me, so I hold off.

Frowning now, I glance around the area more. I see the wrecked remains of what used to be our sailboat. But I also notice that Riku, the Captain, and Dr. Doppler are nowhere to be seen.

"Wait a minute." I turn left and right. "Where are the others?"

"Our piece of the boat broke off when we hit a mushroom, and we landed here," Jim answers. "The others should be further down that way." He points with a finger in the opposite direction.

I gasp. "We have to find them!"

"Yeah, no kidding." Jim straightens up, dusting dirt off his pants. "They should be fine though. At least the map's ok." Jim takes the sphere out of his pants pockets to prove it, holding it in the palm of his hand.

The sphere then levitates into the air before it transforms into the familiar pink creature known as Morph.

"Morph!" Jim tries to grab the little creature as he floats around just out of his reach, giggling cutely. "Where's the map?"

Morph promptly turns into the map and a bundle of rope. The map drops into the rope.

"It's back on the ship?!" Jim nearly shouts. He attempts to grab Morph again, but the blob continues to evade him, giggling.

"Looks like we got company," Sora announces. Another sailboat like ours slowly glides over. The rest of the crew is looking for us.

The three of us quickly hide behind the piece of the sailboat out of view, until the boat passes over completely out of sight.

Jim sighs. "Could things get any worse?"

To answer his question, a ring of Heartless appear all around us.

Jim sighs again. "They can."

They're almost like the regular Pirate Heartless, except for the fact that they have pirate captain hats on their heads, and where their bodies should be, they're ship steering wheels in place. Short and stubby legs stick out from below. They hold two broadswords in their hands. Wheel Pirates, I believe they're called.

They're slightly more difficult to dispatch than the Pirate Heartless, since they have an extra sword, and one of their attacks is to tuck their legs and arms in, get on their sides, and rotate across the area on their wheel torsos, swinging their swords about; we get rid of them all however.

"Come on, we need to go find the others," Sora urges. He sticks his Keyblade away. "If there's Heartless about, they could be in danger."

And with the task at hand of finding our missing companions, we plunge into the mushroom forest, our guard up.

After not even a minute of walking, the forest quickly grows dark like it's nighttime, but that's impossible; it should still be daytime. The deeper we go into the mushroom forest, the less sunlight pervades through.

All I see are tangled vines, twisted branches, and rotted logs, and I keep having this sinking feeling that something is going to jump out and attack us. No one talks as we traverse the foreign land. It's quiet. Much too quiet. Anxiety slowly worms into me, and I almost wish something would come out, so at least this creeping feeling can go away. It's almost unnerving.

My wish is granted when a soft rustle comes from behind us. We spin around at the noise, but all is still again. Something is still there though.

Morph whimpers softly. "Shh." Jim holds a finger to his lips before he takes his gun out of his holster and holds it up. Sora and I take out our Keyblades, and we slowly approach the area where the rustling came from. We slowly peek over into the bushes.

"Ahh!" A robot shouts at us as he jumps out from his hiding spot.

"Ahh!" We jump back, startled.

The robot crashes into Jim, who was in the middle of Sora and I, knocking him onto to the ground.

"Oh, a carbon-based lifeform has come to rescue me!" The robot cheers. His voice actually has emotion to it, unlike the policemen robots who escorted Jim into the Benbow Inn when I first saw him.

He's a rusted robot with extremely thin arms and legs, and round green eyes that almost look like glasses, with tiny blue square-shaped pupils in the center.

"I just want to hug ya, and squeeze ya!" The robot does exactly just that as Jim struggles to his feet.

He lets out a shocked gasp as his eyes swivel to land on Sora and I.

"More carbon-based lifeforms have come to rescue me!" He pulls us into a group hug. "Oh this is great!"

"Alright—ok—Can you get off of me?!" Jim demands, frustrated at the unwanted affection.

The robot hastily removes his appendages from around us. "Oh, right, sorry," he apologizes.

"I've been marooned for so long, I mean…" He lets out a short laugh. "I mean solitude's _fun_, don't get me wrong, but after 100 years, YOU GO A LITTLE NUTS!" He shouts the last part, his eyes flashing madly.

He laughs again before he takes a few steps back. "I'm…I'm sorry, I, uh…" He pauses, looking confused, as if he's unsure of what to say next. 100 years of talking to no one did nothing for his social skills.

He stretches out a hand to Jim. "I am…uh…" He slaps his hand to his head as he attempts to remember his own name. "…uh….uh…"

Morph turns into a miniature version of the robot with a cuckoo bird emerging from his head, implying that he's crazy. Jim waves him off.

"B.E.N.! Of course, that's it! Bio-Electronic Navigator. And you are?"

"Jim."

B.E.N. takes Jim's hand in his and vigorously shakes it. "Oh, what a pleasure to meet you, Jimmy!"

"It's _Jim_," Jim repeats, but B.E.N.'s attention is on Sora now.

"And you are?"

"I'm Sora." Sora gestures to me. "And this is Kairi."

"Ah! It's nice to meet you, Sora and Kari!"

"No, it's…" I start, but I decide to let it slide. This probably won't be the only time he messes up my name. "Never mind."

"Anyways," Jim begins, "we're looking for our friends and there are pirates—"

"Pirates!" B.E.N. interrupts loudly. "Don't get me started on pirates! I don't like them! I remember this one guy named Captain Flint, he had such a temper—"

"Wait." Jim's head swivels toward the talkative robot and he rushes towards him. "You knew Captain Flint?"

"Who's Captain Flint?" Sora asks.

"Captain Flint's the one who looted all the treasure found on Treasure Planet and hid it there," Jim answers Sora with excitement in his face.

"I think he suffered from mood swings, personally, though I'm not a therapist, so what would I know?" B.E.N. says. "But, do let me know when I'm rambling, ok?"

"But then, you should know about the treasure, right?"

"Treasure?"

"Yeah, you know, Flint's trove? The loot of a thousand worlds?

"Well, it-it-it-it's"—B.E.N stumbles around, his pupils swiveling around —"it's all a little…foggy."

"Wait!" He suddenly exclaims, holding his hands out in front of him. "I remember. T-t-treasure!" B.E.N.'s eyes now display pictures of chests of treasure overflowing from it. "Buried in the centroid-_centroid_ of the mechanism." Sparks fly from the back of B.E.N's head as his voice gets considerably deeper and stereotypically robotic as he repeats "centroid."

"And there was this big door, and it was opening and closing, and opening and closing and—" There's a noise like a computer being powered down and B.E.N. leans over before popping back up not even a full second later.

"And Captain Flint wanted to make sure no one could ever find his treasures, so I helped him…" B.E.N. starts short-circuiting as more sparks explode from the back of his head. His body jerks erratically, like he's being electrocuted. He splutters words that none of us can understand, until Jim slaps him across the face, which jolts him out of his crazy state.

B.E.N. gazes at Jim calmly now. "And…you are…?" Going bonkers must have messed with his memory or something.

"The treasure!" Jim nearly grips B.E.N. by his shoulders, frantic for any bit of information on Treasure Planet the android could provide. "What about the treasure?!"

But B.E.N. isn't listening at all. "I want to say…Larry."

"You know, the centroid, the mechanism!"

"I-I-I'm sorry," B.E.N. apologizes. "My memory isn't what it used to be. I LOST MY MIND," he laughs. "You wouldn't happen to have it on you, would you?" He questions as he pats Jim down.

"Have what?"

"My missing piece." B.E.N. turns around so we can see the back of his head. There's a section there with multi-colored wires sticking out. "My primary memory circuit."

Jim sighs in exasperation. "Look B.E.N., we really need to be moving on, so we're just going to be…moving on." Jim starts walking off.

"Oh." Sadness appears on B.E.N.'s face. "I see…so…uh…I guess…this is…goodbye…" His little body hunches over in disappointment and he slowly slinks away.

"I'm sorry I'm so…dysfunctional." His knees hit the ground. Jim stops and looks back over his shoulder.

"So…go on ahead." B.E.N. waves his hand. "I understand…I really do…" He hangs his head in dejection, and I can almost hear a sad violin playing in the background. It's a pitiful sight almost, seeing the guy sit there like that.

Jim is starting to look guilty, and after exchanging looks with Morph, Sora and I, he relents with a sigh, running a hand through his hair.

"Ok, if you're going to come with us, then you have to—"

"Huzzah!" B.E.N. is on his feet in an instant, his dejection changing lightning fast to exhilaration. "Oh, this is fantastic!" He runs over to the rest of us, hugging Jim tightly. "Me and my best buddies are going to—"

"Stop talking," Jim finishes his sentence with an intent look aimed at B.E.N.

"Right! No talking."

"And no touching either," Jim says as he pushes the unstable robot off him.

"Right! No touching."

Jim fixes his clothes that B.E.N. wrinkled during his unexpected embrace. "Now we should probably—"

"Hold on a second," B.E.N. cuts in. "Before we go on our big adventure…do you think we could make a quick pit stop at my place?" The android holds the part where his privates would be and he pulls away a lump of reeds behind him, revealing a clearing save for several scattered mushrooms with tangled vines covering their stems. An odd-shaped house sits in the distance on top of a multitude of little hills.

Joy rushes through me when I see the figures of Dr. Doppler, Captain Amelia, and Riku near one of the mushrooms.

Jim and Sora notice them too, grins crossing their faces.

"B.E.N…" Jim chuckles. "I think you just solved our problem."

xxxxx

"I apologize for the mess, people," B.E.N. laughs. "You'd think in the past 100 years I would have dusted a little more." He swiftly moves a chessboard and chess pieces out of the way for Dr. Doppler to lay the captain down.

Unfortunately, the captain broke her leg during the sailboat crash, and neither healing items nor cures can heal broken bones.

"Aww," B.E.N. smiles as the doctor lays the captain down gently. "I just love romance!"

Dr. Doppler laughs nervously. "Uh…we're not…together…" The Captain just smiles a tiny smile up at him.

There's a lot of…clutter around B.E.N's place, I observe. Trinkets, knick-knacks and other various items crowd the edges of the residence. It's amazing how he's able to find anything around here when everything looks out of place.

Dr. Doppler, however, is more concerned about other things than the state of B.E.N.'s house.

"Look at these markings." His eyes scan the top of the walls. "They look just like the ones on the map. I suspect they must be hieroglyphics, remnants of an ancient culture. Hmm…" He strokes his chin, deep in thought. "I wonder what kind of culture it could be…"

"Hey, look!" B.E.N. is at the entrance to his house, pointing outside with a gleeful look on his face. "They're more of your buddies!" He waves his hand excitedly. "We're over here, fellas!"

He shrieks as multiple laser blasts are fired his way, barely missing him; Jim quickly moves him out of harm's way.

"Stop it! Hold your fire!" A voice calls out, and there's an immediate halt in gunfire. It's Mr. Silver.

Minus B.E.N., Dr. Doppler, and the captain, the rest of us peer out the entrance to see the chef cyborg climbing up one of my many hills leading up to B.E.N.'s place, waving a white flag through the air.

"Jimbo! If it's alright with the captain, I'd like a short word with ya. No tricks. Just talking," he promises.

The Captain winces as she adjusts her position. "He's come to bargain for the map. Don't listen to him."

"Then that means…he thinks we still have the map," Jim realizes. He proceeds towards the entrance. "Don't worry, I got this," Jim assures us right before he exits out the door.

Jim walks down to Mr. Silver, who has perched himself on a tree stump. Morph flies over to cuddle with his old master. Mr. Silver chuckles softly.

He and Jim begin talking, but I'm too far away from them to really make out anything they're saying.

I don't need to hear to know that the cyborg is definitely bargaining for the map, judging from the sly look on his face.

He stretches out a hand towards his former protégé, but just as expected, Jim doesn't bite, expressing a few words of his own.

Fury settles over Mr. Silver's features and his voice becomes thunderous. "…use the ship's cannons to blast you all to kingdom come!" Well that doesn't sound too exciting.

Mr. Silver turns to leave. "Morph, come on," he grunts. The creature hesitates however, torn between two of his favorite people in the world.

"Now!" Mr. Silver bellows, and the creature squeals in fright. He cowers behind Jim's back, shaking.

The cyborg makes a noise of pure frustration and storms off.

xxxxx

When Jim returns, he discloses Mr. Silver's ultimatum to us: Bring the map by dawn, or he's going to blow us all up to smithereens. Even if we did have the map, it doesn't seem like a good idea. I mean, what if the map got destroyed in the assault?

_Wait a minute, Kairi. _I slap myself inwardly. _The map should be the least of your worries. We could all die!_

The Captain ensures us that she'll think of a plan that doesn't end in our deaths, but nightfall quickly falls upon us, and none of us have come up with a single plan. Eventually, the Captain, Sora, and Riku fall asleep, leaving the rest of us awake and running out of options. Dr. Doppler pores over the hieroglyphics etched onto the house walls.

"So Jim," B.E.N. whispers to Jim, "any thoughts of how to get out of this?"

The teenager stares frustratingly out into the sky at the ship, hovering in the air. "Without the map, we're dead." He gazes out at the crew's hideout off in the distance at the bottom of the hills, firelight flickering from their still-burning campfire.

"If we try to leave, we're dead. If we stay here…"

"We're dead," I finish for him.

He nods. "Exactly." Jim leans over the threshold of the the house's entrance, his shoulders deflating in defeat.

I don't see any way out of this. We're pretty much trapped, and there's nothing we can do about it. If only there was…some kind of secret route we could take without being seen.

"Well, it looks like Jimmy could use some quiet time," B.E.N. observes, "so I'm just going to slip out the back door."

"Back door?" Jim faces the skinny robot.

"Oh yeah." B.E.N. strides over to a large sphere, struggling to turn it over. Jim and I scurry over to lend a hand. A beam of light shines up towards the ceiling when we turn the sphere over.

"There's this delightful breeze that comes through here, which is good, because ventilation is very important."

As far down as I can see, rows and rows of machinery crisscross each other.

"What is all this stuff?" Jim asks in awe.

"You mean the miles and miles of machinery that run throughout the entire planet? Not a clue!"

"This is it," Jim mumbles to himself. Facing Dr. Doppler, he calls out, "Doc! I think I find a way out!"

"No, no, wait, Jim!" Mr. Doppler holds out his hand. "The Captain told us to stay put!"

Jim ignores him though, turning to me. "Kairi, come with me."

"Huh? You want me to come with you?"

"Yeah, I might need some backup."

"But…I...uh…" I glance over to Sora and Riku's sleeping faces. There's a chance that Jim and I might run into Heartless while we're on our secret mission. Shadows are a walk in the park, but what If something stronger attacks us? Something I can't handle on my own?

After a brief internal battle, my conscience decides to help Jim out. "Oh, alright."

"Wait, you guys, you should—"

"We'll be back, Doc." And with that, Jim jumps into the hole, followed closely by B.E.N. ("Cannonball!") I take a deep breath before I jump in after them.

The three of us (plus Morph) navigate our way through the endless streams of pipes and machinery, finding another sphere just like the one in B.E.N.'s house.

Jim gently pushes up on it and peers out over the ground. Just several yards away from us is the crew, sleeping soundly around the campfire, still blazing.

"So what's the plan?" B.E.N. blurts loudly. Jim's hand flies to cover the robot's mouth.

"B.E.N., quiet!" He hisses. Thankfully though, B.E.N.'s outburst is largely unnoticed by Mr. Silver's crew, who continue snoring.

"Sorry," he whispers. "So what's the plan?"

"Here's the plan," Jim says. "We sneak onto the Legacy, dismantle the laser cannons, and bring back the map."

"Ooh, that's a good plan. I like that plan. Question is, how do we get there?"

"On that." Jim points up at a sailboat tied to a tree.

It's a good thing the sailboat is silent and the crewmen snore like bears, or our theft would never have worked.

Just a few minutes later, we're back on the RLS Legacy, tiptoeing carefully across the deck, being careful not to make any noises; a feat that's harder for some than others. B.E.N. nearly falls down the stairs leading below deck.

"B.E.N. you wait here," Jim orders. "Kairi and I will go find the map."

"Dismantle all laser cannons, sir!" B.E.N. salutes, completely mishearing what Jim said.

"No, wait—"Jim tries to stop B.E.N., but he's already rolling down the hallway on wheels he produces from the sides of his feet, singing a song about pirates. Jim facepalms himself before we depart to do our own task.

We make our way carefully back to the room where the sailboats were in, when we were escaping from Mr. Silver and his crew after their betrayal. Jim scans the room before finding what he was looking for.

He scurries over to a bundle of rope and reaches into it, delight appearing on his face as he lifts the map to Treasure Planet into his hand.

"Yes," he breathes.

I jump, startled, as a deafening alarm resounds throughout the ship, blaring in my ears with incredible ferocity.

"Stupid robot," Jim curses, running off with me close on his heels. "That stupid robot is going to get us all..."

He suddenly stops at the base of the stairs, causing me to run into his back.

"Oof!" I stumble back a couple steps. "What? What's the matter?"

But my question is answered when I gaze up and see Mr. Scroop standing at the top of the stairs, a sinister gleam in his yellow, bulging eyes.

Mr. Silver must have put him here as a lookout in case we attempted to come back to the ship.

"Cabin boy," he leers.

"Run!"

I don't need to be told twice as I turn and run down a hallway. However, I don't get far before I discover that Jim is running in the opposite direction, Mr. Scroop scuttling behind him on his long spider legs.

"Jim!" I yell.

"Go find B.E.N.!" He shouts behind his shoulder, pushing over barrels and crates into Mr. Scroop's path, which the spider creature easily bypasses by crawling up on the walls and then onto the ceiling. He's hot on Jim's heels as Jim rounds a corner.

Hesitating, I contemplate running after Jim, but my eyes fall on the numerous barrels and crates Jim threw down. I'd have a little difficulty trying to get over all those wooden hurdles in the way to catch up. I would just have to leave it to Jim to take care of himself and go find B.E.N.

I run back up the stairs and race down a hallway. _Laser cannons, laser cannons. Where would the controls for the laser cannons…_

My thoughts are disrupted when three medium-sized portals of darkness materialize in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.

From out of the darkness step out three Invisible Heartless, hovering in the air. They grip deadly, serrated, blue-bladed swords in their hands.

Invisibles. It just had to be Invisibles. Why couldn't it be Nocturnes? Fighting one Invisible is enough in itself, but multiple ones?

_Maybe I can…_

One of the Heartless rears back with his sword arm and I chicken out, whirling around and racing back in the direction I had just come.

My feet thunder over the floor as I try to outrun the Heartless, magic spells running through my mind.

_Raging Storm? No, the hallway isn't big enough to unleash three fiery tornadoes. I might burn myself. Thundaga?_

While I'm strategizing a game plan, an Invisible swoops in front of me, and I only have enough time to duck to the right, when the lights shut out, leaving me in utter darkness.

The only thing I can hear is my breath as my head rotates left and right. I can see nothing in the pitch-black nothingness. I don't hear the Invisibles, which worries me somewhat.

The lights come back on, and I find that the Heartless are gone.

I summon my Keyblade into my hand and grip it in front of me in both hands at arm's reach, whirling left and right as I try to locate the foes. But they seem to have disappeared into thin air.

I take a cautious step back. Nothing comes out, so I make a beeline for the stairs, which will lead me back up the deck. I've almost cleared the staircase when the three Invisibles show themselves at the top of the staircase.

It looks like I don't have any choice except to fight, but before I can make the first move, my body feels lightless, and I look down to see my feet steadily rising into the air, like gravity has no control over me.

I yelp as my limbs flail through the air. The anti-gravity must have been disabled. I need to grab onto something before I end up flying off into space.

Luckily I'm near a ship mast, so I reach out a hand to take hold of the thin horizontal bar, leaving my body in a vertical position with my feet pointed upwards.

I was so focused on my predicament that I nearly forgot about my former opponents, but they are considerate enough to remind me with their appearance, levitating near me. Anti-gravity has no effect on them since they can hover in the air even without it.

Swordplay isn't a possibility due to my awkward position. I'll have to use magic. Without even thinking about it, I use magic spell after magic spell as I attack and cut down two of the Heartless.

The last one is smart and gets behind me, right in my blind spot, which means I can't properly aim my Keyblade at him and fire an attack at him. I call upon the powers of thunder and rain lightning bolts on him until he disperses into darkness.

Without warning my body crashes onto the deck with a painful thud seconds later, meaning the anti-gravity was turned back on.

Pushing myself up onto my knees, I can hear footsteps clomping up the stairs and I start to smell smoke. B.E.N. steps into view, wisps of smoke trailing around him. His hands are holding frayed cords.

"Laser cannons dismantled, Captain Jimmy, sir!" He salutes up to the crow's nest. "That wasn't so tough." The cords shoot off a few sparks. "Oh, hello there, Kari!"

I glance up to see Jim climbing down from the crow's nest. He lands lightly on the deck.

"Where's Mr. Scroop?" I ask him, not seeing the creep around.

"Let's just say he got a one-way ticket to deep space," Jim smirks as he tosses the map into the air and catches it on its descent. "Come on, let's get out of here."

xxxxx

Jim pushes up the large sphere back in B.E.N.'s house and leaps out. He pauses to help me out like a gentleman before rushing over to a sleeping figure.

"Doc!" A grin is plastered on his face. "I got the map!"

I watch, stunned, as a robotic hand extends from the shadows and plucks the map from Jim's hand. Mr. Silver reveals his leering face in the light.

"Fine work, Jimbo. Fine work indeed."

Muffled voices sound from my right and my eyes flash over to see Sora, Riku, the Captain, and Dr. Doppler gagged and tied with rope, crewmen standing guard over them.

Other crewmen emerge from the shadows, snarls on their faces.

"Thanks for showing us the way in, boy," one of them sniggers.

Jim's eyes frantically sweep the multiple crewmen approaching him slowly before he makes a break for it. I'm just about to summon my Keyblade when a crewman comes out from nowhere and restrains my arms with his tentacles, the slimy things wrapping around my body.

I struggle in an attempt to free myself, but it's no use. B.E.N. yelps from behind me, which means that he's been captured as well.

Mr. Silver saunters over to Jim, who is in a similar situation to mine, being subdued by two crewmen.

"You're just like me, Jimbo. You hates to lose," he sneers right in his face. Jim just glowers at him, struggling against his assailants futilely.

The cyborg tries to open the sphere and reveal the map to Treasure Planet, but it quickly becomes clear that he has no idea how to work the thing. He takes out a variety of mechanisms from his robotic arm to pry the thing open, growing more upset by the second.

He finally gives up and holds out the sphere to Jim. The crewmen restraining him release him.

"Open it," he commands.

Jim isn't so willing to take orders, and the two of them have an intense glaring match until Mr. Silver pulls out a gun from his robotic arm and points it towards Sora and the others.

"I said…open it," Mr. Silver repeats in a hardened tone. Something tells me he's not playing around, and he will shoot someone if he doesn't get his way.

A conflicted expression shows on Jim's face as he faces an internal debate. But after Mr. Silver loads a bullet into the chamber with a clicking noise, Jim resolves himself and pushes some spots on the map, revealing the treasure map before our eyes. The crewmen voice their wonder in the form of "oohs" and "aahs."

The 3-D holographic model of the world known as Treasure Planet floats in the air for a moment, then dissolves and scatters into a green line that leads out of the entrance of B.E.N.'s house and out of sight, showing the route to where the treasure laid.

Mr. Silver chuckles in excitement for a few seconds, then scowls at Jim. "Tie him up. And put him with the others."

He makes a noise of surprise when the path to Treasure Planet evaporates abruptly. Jim closed up the sphere.

"You want the map?" He stares unwavering into the cyborg's eyes. "You take me too."

Mr. Silver strokes his chin as he considers Jim's bargain. "Alright," he says finally. "We'll take them all."

xxxxx


	12. The Treasure Is Yours For The Taking

ElvenPrincess01: So this is part 2 of the previous chapter that was supposed to be one chapter but I decided to split it up so the chapter wouldn't be super long. This is the final chapter of the Treasure Planet Saga, so Team SRK will be traveling to the next world after this.

Riku: As if that wasn't obvious before.

ElvenPrincess01:...anyways, I just want to say thank you to **Sammy **who so kindly pointed out a grammatical error that I made in chapter 10. I went back and edited it so it's all good. Though I can't believe I made a grammatical error. I'm like the grammar police, I always notice these things.

Kairi: Well it _did_ seem like you were rushing the editing of that chapter a little bit.

ElvenPrincess01: I will do better in the future then. But if anyone spots any more grammatical errors in my story, please feel free to (politely) point them out. I hate grammatical errors when I read people's work, and I don't want to be one of those people, because I—

Riku: Don't you have a story to be getting to?

ElvenPrincess01: Huh? Oh right. Nearly went off on a rant there. Thanks Riku. Would you and Kairi be so kind as to do the disclaimer?

Riku: ElvenPrincess01 does not own Kingdom Hearts—

Kairi: Disney—

Riku: Or any franchise mentioned in this story.

Kairi: Enjoy!

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter_

_The 3-D holographic model of the world known as Treasure Planet floats in the air for a moment, then dissolves and scatters into a green line that leads out of the entrance of B.E.N.'s house and out of sight, showing the route to where the treasure laid._

_Mr. Silver chuckles in excitement for a few seconds, then scowls at Jim. "Tie him up. And put him with the others."_

_He makes a noise of surprise when the path to Treasure Planet evaporates abruptly. Jim closed up the sphere._

"_You want the map?" He stares unwavering into the cyborg's eyes. "You take me too."_

_Mr. Silver strokes his chin as he considers Jim's bargain. "Alright," he says finally. "We'll take them all."_

**Chapter 12: The Treasure Is Yours For The Taking**

At Mr. Silver's words, all of us load into a couple sailboats. Jim opens up the path to Treasure Planet, and the vessels follow the green line.

After a while, we land in a dark place with tall reeds towering into the sky, and the green line rapidly pulses a yellow glimmer. Mr. Silver jumps off the boat, chucking to himself, knowing that Treasure Planet is near. The rest of the crewmen follow after their leader.

One of them however stays in the boat with Dr. Doppler and the others with a gun trained on them, ready to fire if one of them tries anything.

I hate to leave them like this, but I have no choice. Jim is going to be surrounded by Mr. Silver's crewmen, and I can't leave him alone with B.E.N.

Morph cuddles with Jim, shivering in fear. Poor guy.

B.E.N. walks up to Jim. "Jim, I don't know about you, but I can see my life flash before my eyes." He grabs his head between both of his hands. "At least, I think it was my life….WAS I EVER DANCING WITH AN ANDROID NAMED LUPE?" He shouts, his eyes flickering crazily.

"B.E.N., calm down." Jim places a hand on the robot's shoulder. He throws a glance at Mr. Silver who's walking ahead. "This isn't over yet."

The yellow glimmer begins pulsing even more now. A gleam on his face, Mr. Silver pulls out a sword from his robotic arm.

"We're getting close now, lads! I spell treasure a-waiting!" The crewmen roar in excitement. One of them claps their hands. The cyborg pulls Jim by his shirt as he continues forward, B.E.N. and I right behind.

Mr. Silver doesn't care much for nature; he carelessly slashes down the tall, thin reeds in his path, the only things between him and his treasure. His face gleams more in barely controlled anticipation with each second.

He cuts down a row of weeds and we all stop, shocked, as a cliff looms ahead of us. It's a dead end.

"Where is it?" Mr. Silver growls.

"I see nothing!" A crew member yells out in a high-pitched voice. "A big, stinking pile of nothing!"

The green line that shows the route to Treasure Planet shrinks back into the spherical map.

"What's going on, Jimbo?" Mr. Silver demands as the brunette frantically pushes buttons on the sphere.

"I don't know!" He replies.

The crewmen aren't happy with this answer, starting to verbally protest now.

"We never should have trusted this boy!" A female crew member cries out before she pushes him forward onto the ground, Jim falling onto his knees.

"I suggest you get thing working again, Jimbo, if you know what's good for you," Mr. Silver warns with a hidden tone of malice in his voice.

The voices of the crewmen get louder as they wave their weapons through the air, their faces blazing with anger. Someone suggests throwing Jim off the cliff. This is not good.

I glance over to Jim, who's still on his knees. He takes a curious look at the sphere before he deposits it into a sphere-shaped mound on the ground.

The second he does that, a green circular-shaped light flashes from the sphere across the ground. The crewmen take a few steps back in apprehension.

A three-dimensional green-colored model with hundreds of dots on it rises slowly from the ground where Jim placed the sphere at.

Five green-yellowish lines shoot across the ground from the valley opposite us and merge together to shoot skyward into a tall green line that splits into a triangular-shaped portal.

Within the portal, I can see dozens of stars and a wispy blue-colored substance in the air.

"I don't believe it," Jim breaths in awe. "That's the Lagoon Nebula."

"But that's halfway across the galaxy!" Mr. Silver says.

Jim presses buttons on the model. Each time he does so, a new world is shown to us. "A big door…opening and closing…"

His face alights as he presses a button that opens up to Montressor. "Montressor Spaceport," he smiles. "So that's how Captain Flint did it. He used this portal to roam the worlds, stealing treasure."

"But where'd he stash it all?" Mr. Silver pushes Jim out of the way, impatient. He pushes random buttons frantically as he searches for Treasure Planet.

"Where's. That. Blasted. Treasure?!"

"Treasure!" B.E.N. grabs his head again. "It's buried in the…in the…"

"Centroid of the mechanism," Jim and I finish at the same time.

I stroke my chin, thinking. "What if the whole planet is the mechanism? And the treasure is buried in the center of this planet?"

"And how in the blue blazes are we supposed to get there?!" Mr. Silver roars. His patience is wearing thin now.

"We just have to open the right door," Jim calmly replies, and he presses a button on the model. The portal reveals a peculiar-looking world, with large open brass-colored pipes dangling from above.

Jim takes a tentative step forward, reaching out a hand into the portal, his hand glowing green when it enters inside. When he sees it's safe to enter, he moves his entire body inside.

Mr. Silver is right behind him, grabbing onto his shoulder. After seeing their successful entries, the rest of us tread inside as well. We only have to take several steps once we're inside. And that's when we saw it. The crewmen gasp in amazement.

Laid out before us are piles upon piles upon piles of treasure. All I could see is treasure. Gold, gems, jewels, you name it. It was everywhere, piled high. It's like a dragon's hoard.

The crew members waste no time, cheering loudly before rushing forward, eager to claim their share of the famed treasure.

"The loot of a thousand worlds," Mr. Silver murmurs as he gazes all around the place. From the way he was acting earlier, I'm a little surprised he wasn't the first one hurrying to the treasure.

"We're going to need a bigger boat!" Someone yells out in delight.

"This all seems…very familiar…" B.E.N. muses as he regards the area. "I…I can't remember why…"

"Kairi, B.E.N., come on." Jim nods his head in the direction of a boat. "We're getting out of here, and we're not leaving empty-handed."

Jim easily hops into the boat with one hand and pulls me up into it. He leans over the boat to help B.E.N. up.

"You know, Jimmy, I can't tell you how frustrating this is. It's like there's something nagging in the back of my mind—_aah_!" The android cries out as he tumbles to the ground.

While Jim helps the clumsy android up, my eyes are on a skeletal corpse wearing a black captain's hat, sitting against the mast.

"Is this…Captain Flint?" I point.

"Captain Flint?" Jim's eyes widen.

"In the flesh!" B.E.N. gasps. "Well, sort of, except for…skin and organs…and anything that-that-that resembles flesh…all that stuff."

B.E.N. continues gazing as Jim and I pore over the skeletal remains of the space pirate. "I remember there was something _terrible_ that Captain Flint didn't want anyone to know, but I can't remember what it was."

A curious look flashes across Jim's eyes as he eyes a piece of machinery in the hand of Captain Flint. He rips it out from his bony hand and examines it.

"Oh, a mind is a terrible thing to lose!" B.E.N. laments loudly with a hand to his forehead.

Jim looks at the machinery in his hand, then back at B.E.N, and I can see the gears moving in his mind as he puts two and two together.

"Hang on, B.E.N. I think I just found your mind." Jim holds the piece he found up to the back of B.E.N.'s head, and as soon as the piece of machinery nears the exposed wires on the android's head, it immediately fuses to them. When they fuse together, B.E.N. suddenly stands ramrod straight, like a jolt ran through him.

"Whoa!" His eyes flicker a few times. "Hello." He looks around. "You know, Jimmy, I was just thinking…_thinking_…" He lets out a shocked gasp, beaming. "I remember now! All my memories! They're coming back to me!" B.E.N. does a little jump in the air, ecstatic.

"Right up until the moment Captain Flint pulled out my memory circuit so no one could know about the booby trap!"

"Wait, what?" I ask. "What booby trap?"

Deafening screams screech from behind us and we all turn in astonishment to see a rather large Heartless standing on a pile of treasure, some of the crewmen running away from it for their dear lives. The Heartless is on league with a Guard Armor Heartless in terms of size, but a little wider.

Much like the Guard Armor, it wears armor, except this one wears dazzling gold armor and dozens of silver and gold necklaces around its neck and wrapped around its body. Gems are embedded in the golden gloves it wears on his massive hands and two little horns stick out from its pitch-black head.

Jim peers closely at the creature. "Is that a...?"

"Heartless." My voice is flat. I have to stare high up at the Heartless in order to see its yellow eyes, and, to be completely honest, I'm a bit intimidated by the giant. I'm not even sure how I'm supposed to approach it. It's the biggest Heartless that I've ever faced; well at least the biggest Heartless I can _remember_ facing.

"Right!" B.E.N. snaps his fingers. "Captain Flint stuck one of these Heartless thingies in here to attack anyone who would come here attempting to steal his treasure!"

"And you couldn't have told us that earlier?" Jim questions as he sizes up the foe.

The Heartless detaches both of its fists from its body and sends them up above. One of the fists knocks down a large pipe from up above. The ground shakes beneath our feet as the pipe crashes into the treasure and sinks down slowly.

The other of the Heartless' hands strikes another pipe, but when it does, the pipe shudders and fires down a wide purple laser beam. The pipe begins to move forward in a straight line, creating a gaping hole that nearby treasure falls into.

I watch in horror as crewmen either get disintegrated by the laser or fall into the hole as they attempt to run away and carry their bundles of treasure along with them.

"Run! Run for your lives!" B.E.N. grabs onto Jim's shoulder.

"We can't just leave that thing here," I say as I point at the Heartless.

"Yeeeaaah," B.E.N. says slowly. "I don't know if you know this or not, but I'm not much of a fighter."

"I'll take care of it," I find myself saying.

"B.E.N., you go back and find the others," Jim orders the robot as he slides underneath the longboat. "If I'm not back in five minutes…leave without me." That means I have to defeat this Heartless in less than five minutes. Great.

And before the urge to change my mind can really settle in, I force my feet to move in the direction of the Heartless.

"I am not leaving my best buddy Jimmy behind!" I can hear B.E.N. protest from behind me. Then a few seconds later, "Unless he looks at me like that…Bye Jim!"

Luckily for me, the Heartless has moved on and is nowhere near the gaping hole that is pulling the majority of the hoard in like a vacuum cleaner, which means I won't have to worry about accidentally tumbling in. As soon as I near the foe, it redirects its attention from the pipes to me, sensing a target to eliminate. It's fists return back to their owner.

_Now let's see…how should I-_

The Heartless lets out a deafening roar and charges at me, not willing to give me a chance to make the first move.

My whole body is frozen in place, and, to my utter disbelief, I realize I've forgotten to do the most important thing.

I forgot to summon my Keyblade.

_Move, you dummy! _My brain shouts at me, but I can't move a muscle. It's like my body has turned into a statue, and the only thing I can do is stand helplessly on the precipice of doom as my fate rushes to meet me.

"Back off!"

The Kingdom Key Keyblade hurtles like a boomerang towards the Heartless' head and strikes it on the head. The creature comes to a stop and whips its head in the direction the weapon came from, roaring.

I turn my head to the left to see the Keyblade return back to Sora's hand, and I let out a breath of relief as I see when I see Riku right behind him.

Five more seconds, and I would have been a goner. Good thing Sora and Riku showed up when they did. How'd they get past the crewman that was standing watch over them though?

The Heartless decides to attack Sora and Riku now and swipes a hand at them, but they easily dodge the attack and sprint over to join up with me.

"Kairi, you ok?" Sora asks, somewhat out of breath. The two of them must have run straight here from the boat without taking a break.

"I'm fine. How'd you guys get here?"

"While we were stuck on the boat, Dr. Doppler was lamenting how useless he felt, and how he felt he couldn't do anything, so he put his head in his hands, and that was when we noticed—"

"Uh, perhaps we should continue this story another time?" Riku interrupts. Sora and I snap our heads toward the Heartless, who lets out a booming roar. He means business this time.

It detaches all its limbs from its body. The fists group together and the feet grouping together, while the head and the torso stay together. All the appendages zoom toward us.

I get the hands, Riku gets the feet, and Sora goes after the head and torso. I wish I had gotten the feet like Riku did. They pretty much stay on the ground. To fight the fists, I have to constantly jump into the air just to reach them, and it doesn't help that they constantly flit around, forcing me to turn around before I can strike them nearly every time. It's like they're taunting me.

I use a combination of strikes using my Keyblade and Fire spells to defeat the fists of the giant Heartless. When the last of the fists disappears into thin air, I notice that Riku has already finished defeating his share and is lending a hand to Sora to defeat the rest of the Heartless.

I'm in the midst of running over to assist when the two of them unleash a ferocious round of combo strikes on the head and torso. The Heartless roars as it dissipates into darkness.

Defeating the Heartless was much easier than I thought it would be. I have Sora and Riku to thank for that. I'm glad they showed up when they did.

All of us jump at an earsplitting explosion. The laser beam has hit a longboat, and it's sending fiery embers raining down.

"We have to get out of here!" Riku shouts over the din of the explosion.

I look left and right. "Where's Jim?!"

"He's over there!" Sora points. Jim, and Mr. Silver, are running side-by-side towards the portal.

Not eager to be left behind, the three of us dash towards the exit as if we're running a marathon. We run outside the green portal to see Jim and Mr. Silver doubled over, taking in huge, deep breaths.

Jim recovers first. "Silver…you gave up all that treasure to save me?"

Mr. Silver huffs, a slight grin rising up on his face. "It's a lifelong obsession, I'll get over it." Morph flies over to cuddle with the cyborg. I guess Mr. Silver redeemed himself at the end.

"Aloha!"

The sound of engines flaring tears through the air and we look up to see the _Legacy_ lowering to hover next to us. B.E.N. leans over the edge.

"Hurry people! We've got exactly 2 minutes and 34 seconds to planet's destruction!"

The ship wobbles before it bangs against the platform we're standing on, causing us to stumble back.

"I said _gently_!" Captain Amelia sounds very frustrated. Dr. Doppler must be the one driving then.

Once we hurry onto the ship, the ship rises into the air and accelerates forward. Numerous laser beams shoot up out of the ground, forcing Dr. Doppler to maneuver around them.

"Captain," Mr. Silver grins at Captain Amelia, "you dropped from the sky just in time to—"

"Save your clap-trap for the judge, Silver," the feline cuts in brusquely. Mr. Silver laughs nervously, pulling on his collar.

Something strikes one of the ship's solar sails and knocks it clean off. The mast falls on one of the laser cannons and smashes it in. The ship sinks down slightly as a result.

"Thrusters are at only 30% capacity!" B.E.N. shouts out.

Dr. Doppler is aghast. "But that means…we'll never clear the explosion in time…"

More laser beams sprout up all around us, blowing up the ground.

"We have to turn around," Jim says.

"What?!" Dr. Doppler shouts.

"There's a portal back there." Jim runs over to the damaged laser cannon. "It can get us out of here."

"Excuse me Jim, but doesn't that portal open up into a RAGING INFERNO?!"

"Yes," Jim grunts as he rips a piece off the laser cannon. "But I'm going to change that; I'm going to open a different door."

"Captain, I really don't see how this is going to—"

"Listen to the boy!" Mr. Silver barks as he hobbles down the stairs over to Jim.

"I minute and 29 seconds to planet's destruction!" B.E.N. calls out.

Mr. Silver produces a blowtorch from his robotic arm and fuses the engine of the laser cannon to the piece of the cannon Jim just pulled of, which resembles a board.

He helps Jim get his makeshift vehicle up onto the edge of the ship and the teenager jumps on it.

"Now no matter what, keep the ship heading straight towards the portal. Alright?" We all agree.

"58 seconds!"

On that note, Jim fires up the engine on his board and zips off into the air.

Mr. Silver wheels around to face Mr. Doppler. "Well you heard him! Get this blasted heap turned around!"

Captain Amelia commands Dr. Doppler to turn the vessel around, which he reluctantly does. Our fate now lies on Jim's shoulders. The only thing we can do now is just hope he can make it to the portal in time.

Jim told me before that he was good with riding a solar vehicle, but I didn't think he was this good. His reflexes are sharp and his skill is commendable. He expertly maneuvers himself around falling pieces of the planet that drop around him and evades falling objects on the turn of a dime.

"Narrow on the right, THE RIGHT!" Captain Amelia nags at the doctor.

"I know, I know! Will you just let me drive?!" The doctor nearly explodes in frustration.

"25 seconds!"

The engine on Jim's board dies out, and I can only watch helplessly as Jim begins to descend into a gaping hole in the ground, thanks to the planet's destruction.

"Come on, come on…"I chant under my breath nervously.

In a last-ditch effort, Jim rams his board against a large piece of the planet as he drives the engine against it. The friction is all he needs to get the engine up and running again, and a few seconds later, my fears are assuaged as Jim ascends into the air and sails towards the portal with not a second to lose.

"Seven...six...five…!" B.E.N. begins to count off and I unconsciously hold my breath, the tension building with each passing moment.

"Four…three…two!" Right when B.E.N. calls out "two", Jim presses a button on the map projection. The portal opens up to reveal dark blue skies and the crescent-shaped Montressor Spaceport. We made it.

A rousing cheer goes up on the ship (including from the crewmen tied up below deck, from what I can guess from the shouts coming from below) as Jim circles around the ship once before landing on deck. Dr. Doppler and Captain Amelia share a hug, but they quickly pull away from each other a second later, blushing slightly.

Sora, Riku, and I give varying remarks of approval as Dr. Doppler helps the captain down the stairs and over to Jim, an impressed look on her face.

"Unorthodox, but ludicrously…_effective_. I'd be proud to recommend you to the Interstellar Academy. They can use a man like you."

"Oh, Jim!" Dr. Doppler claps him on the back. "Wait to your mother hears about this! We should probably leave out the life-threatening details though…"

"Jimmy, that was unforgettable!" B.E.N. grins widely. "I know you don't like touching but…get ready for a hug, cause I gotta hug ya!" He laughs when he embraces Jim, and is surprised when Jim hugs him back, spinning him around.

"Hey, you hugged me back!"

The excitement dies down gradually, and I'm talking with the others before I realize that Mr. Silver managed to slink off and is nowhere to be found on the deck. And Jim seems to have slipped out as well.

Stealthily slinking away, I head towards the stairs that lead down to the hull of the ship. I keep walking until I find who I'm looking for. I hide when Mr. Silver and Jim come into view, in the room with the longboats. Jim pulls down the lever to open up the door on the floor, and then he unties the rope securing a sailboat.

"How about you ship out with us, lad?" Mr. Silver tries to persuade Jim as Morph flies around him. "Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Silver!" The cyborg throws his arms up in the air in grand fashion. "Full of ourselves and with no ties to anyone!"

Jim chuckles as Morph turns into a captain's hat and places himself on top of Jim's head. "You know…when I first got on the ship…I would have taken you up on that offer in a heartbeat." He removes Morph from his head, and the adorable little guy returns back to his natural state.

"But…" Jim stares out into the sky. "I met this old cyborg"—Mr. Silver smiles at that —"who said that I could chart my own path. My own destiny. I have a future now."

Mr. Silver beams at his protégé, chuckling to himself. "Look at ya, glowing like a solar fire. You're something special, Jim. You're going to rattle the stars." Jim's face shines in happiness. He blinks a couple times, most likely blinking back tears, and he steps forward and wraps his arms around Mr. Silver. The pirate reciprocates the hug, his massive arms enveloping Jim's frame tightly.

It's like a father-son moment. I hadn't even realized it but Mr. Silver had become Jim's father figure. I think he turned Jim's life around. Jim came on this adventure to find treasure to rebuild his mother's inn, but I think he found something else.

Mr. Silver coughed and the two broke apart. "Just a little bit of grease in this cyborg's eye." He wiped his eye. "I best be off now."

Morph immediately dissolves into a pool of tears, literally, into Jim's cupped hands.

"Don't be like that, Morph," Jim smiles. "I'll see you around." Morph sniffs and flies over to Mr. Silver.

Mr. Silver glances at the pink creature that's resting on his finger, then back at Jim.

"Morph…I need you to do something for me…I need you to watch over this pup." Mr. Silver eyes Jim. "Can you do it?" Morph salutes him and gives him one last cuddle on his cheek before flying happily over to Jim.

Mr. Silver chuckles before his eyes flash in my direction.

"Don't think I can't see you out there, lassie!" Mr. Silver calls out. I flinch reflexively at being caught. I guess I wasn't being as ninja-like as I thought.

With the cat out of the bag now, I sheepishly walk over. "Sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"It's fine. It wasn't like we were discussing trade secrets or anything." Mr. Silver winks at me and I can't help but giggle.

A question then pops into my head, something that I was previously thinking about when Riku and I were discussing the cyborg's loyalties, but hadn't in a while since so much had happened since then. "Wait, Mr. Silver! You were the one who attacked the Benbow Inn when you were looking for the map to Treasure Planet, right?"

"Not something I'd like to admit, but yes, it was me."

"How come you commanded the Heartless there but you never used them again?"

"Heartless?" Mr. Silver appears confused. "What in the world are you talking about?"

"You know, those…piratey-looking creatures that were in the inn right before it burned down."

It's a couple moments before Mr. Silver remembers what I'm talking about. "Oh, you mean those things! I wasn't commanding them! They were already there when I got there. I had me men take care of them after they tried to attack us."

So since Mr. Silver didn't command the Heartless, then that meant they came of their accord, and Mr. Silver just happened to be coincidentally attacking the inn at the same time.

The King did say that Keyblade wielders were susceptible to random Heartless attacks. And if Mr. Silver's fellow mutineers fought the Heartless there, it would explain why when the Heartless attacked the ship en route to Treasure Planet, the crew members knew immediately what to do.

The cyborg gets onto the sailboat as it begins to descend. "Oh! Speaking of which!" He reaches deep into his jacket pocket and tosses Jim several gold coins and gems. "It's for your dear mother. To rebuild that inn of hers."

Jim smiles gratefully down at him. "Stay out of trouble…old scalawag," he speaks quietly.

Mr. Silver chortles as the solar sail on his longboat flares out and the boat drops into the air. "Now Jimbo! When you have known me to do otherwise?"

The engine fire flares out and Mr. Silver disappears from sight, his warm laughter fading off into the distance.

xxxxx

"Found it!" Sora's voice carries over to Riku and I. We stop searching underneath the rocks lining the Benbow Inn and hurry over to our bushy-haired friend.

On the ground in front of him is the shape of a Keyhole, roughly the size of a shoe.

Once we got back to Montressor and met up with Mrs. Hawkins at the spaceport, Jim, Sora, Riku, and I went back to the scorched remains of the inn to see for ourselves what remained of it, and, surprise, surprise, there was another Heartless attack. More of them attacked us than the first day we were here. As if there wasn't enough damage to the area already.

Riku had surmised that the Keyhole must be around here, since the Heartless seemed to be very fond of the area. So he, Sora and I started moving the rocks around near the inn to see if Riku's theory was correct. It was.

"Hmm…" Riku crosses his arms over his chest. "As I figured, it's on the ground. Haven't seen one of these since Olympus Coliseum."

I glance at him. "How do we seal it then?"

"Simple," he says with a shrug. "Sora?"

"On it!" Sora commands his Keyblade to his hand and holds it in front of him. A second later, the tip of his Keyblade shines a blue light and a single beam of light shoots out from it. It strikes the Keyhole, causing it to light up for a moment. After the Keyhole's glow fades away, the tip of Sora's Keyblade stops shining.

He de-summons the Keyblade. "Okay. Keyhole sealed."

Frowning, I look between the Keyhole and Sora. "That's it?" Just a flash of light and the Keyhole is sealed? I thought there'd be a more complicated process than this, like sticking the Keyblade into the hole and, I don't know, chanting some incantations or something.

"That's it," Sora says simply. "Now that the Keyhole is sealed, we can move on to the next world."

"You guys are leaving?" The three of us turn around to see Jim standing there, Morph hovering next to him. "Already?"

I smile apologetically. "Yeah…Sorry, but we've got to go. Duty calls."

"The adventure was fun though," Sora remarks. "Though I didn't get to see much of the treasure…"

Riku shakes his head in amusement. "It was nice meeting you, Jim. Say goodbye to the others for us, will you?"

Jim nods his head. "No problem." A grin jumps onto his face. "Come back soon. Thanks to the treasure Mr. Silver gave me, my mom and I can rebuild the inn, and we're going to have it decked out. You should come back and see it sometime."

"Can't wait," I grin back at him. Morph flies a few times around Sora, Riku and I, causing us all to laugh.

We wave goodbye to Jim and Morph as we board the waiting Gummi ship. I plop down into the seat, my shoulders deflating as I sink into the leathery chair. It's nice to have a chance to relax after everything that I've been through.

Riku sits down in the driver's seat before Sora can claim it. "My turn."

Once Chip and Dale give him the go-ahead, he lifts the ship high into the air, leaving Jim, Morph, and the remnants of the Benbow Inn down below, and we rocket off back into space, journeying to a new world with new people to meet.

xxxxx

ElvenPrincess01: Ok! The Treasure Planet Saga is over! Though I'm going to miss this world a little. I love the Treasure Planet movie, and it was fun writing about it. But all good things must come to an end, and I couldn't keep Team SRK here forever.

Riku: You seem to like using Team SRK.

ElvenPrincess01: Well it beats writing out Sora, Riku and Kairi all the time.

Riku: Good point.

ElvenPrincess01: Thanks for reading! And I would appreciate any reviews you guys want to leave me. But no flames, please. That's Axel's forte.

Sora: Is Axel going to appear in the story? Cause if so, that would be—

xxxxx


	13. The Lost Empire

ElvenPrincess01: No time to lose! Sora!

Sora: Right! Disclaimer: ElvenPrincess01 does not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney! Enjoy the chapter!

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter_

_We wave goodbye to Jim and Morph as we board the waiting Gummi ship. I plop down into the seat, my shoulders deflating as I sink into the leathery chair. It's nice to have a chance to relax after everything that I've been through._

_Riku sits down in the driver's seat before Sora can claim it. "My turn."_

_Once Chip and Dale give him the go-ahead, he lifts the ship high into the air, leaving Jim, Morph, and the remnants of the Benbow Inn down below, and we rocket off back into space, journeying to a new world with new people to meet._

**Chapter 13: The Lost Empire**

As we leave Montressor far behind us and depart towards the next world, I feel as ease with Riku behind the wheel. His driving is much more controlled and smoother than Sora's, resulting in less close encounters with asteroids.

We find a world at Chip and Dale's call, but the world monitor decides it wants to act up at that moment and can't tell us what the name of the world is. Bummer.

Riku flies the ship over what looks like a modern city, with tall buildings stretching up towards the dark blue sky, cobblestoned streets, and horse-drawn carriages.

"Where am I supposed to land?" Riku mutters to himself as he searches for a place to land the Gummi ship. The city below us is sprawling with activity. There's nowhere we can land without drawing attention from the citizens.

"Hey, there's a port over there." Sora points, and I see a port where several huge ships are docked. Next to it is the pier. Dozens of people mill about on the boardwalk.

Riku smoothly glides the Gummi ship to an empty space in the water besides the pier, attempting to disguise it as just another one of the ships.

After we get out of the ship, we only take a few steps before we stop abruptly, our faces full of astonishment. "Whoa!"

We see a massive ship docked at the port, the biggest one here, just like the _RLS Legacy_ we rode to Treasure Planet. The other ships nearby pale in comparison to this behemoth. It could eat them for breakfast, and then some.

"Wow, look at the size of that thing…" Sora breathes in muted wonder. I can already tell it's going to be like the pirates all over again."

Riku notices the gleam in Sora's eyes as well. "Sora, remember why we're here. We have to—"But before Riku can finish his reminder, Sora runs off towards the ship.

"Sora!" Riku reaches out an arm after him, but it's too late and Sora scurries off into the throng of people.

Riku sighs in frustration. "Come on, we better go after him."

The two of us follow in Sora's footsteps to find him staring up at the ship in front of its gangplank. Sora barely notices our arrival. "Cool…I wonder where it's going…"

"Well we'll never know," Riku says, "because—"

"Hey! You three!" We jump and turn around as a loud, gruff voice rings in our ears.

A tall, burly man in a green military uniform, sporting a thick black beard and mustache approaches us, his shoulders squared.

"What are you three dawdling around for? You should already be on the ship!" He booms with a stern look in his eyes as he stares down at us.

We attempt to protest to the man, trying to tell him we're not one of the crewmen on the ship, but as far as he's concerned, we're just tardy crew members dressed in "odd clothing"; the next thing I know, we're ushered up the gangplank and onto the ship.

"Well…looks like we're going on another adventure," Riku sighs in a somewhat amused tone.

The loudspeaker on the ship crackles before a drearily monotone female's voice speaks through it.

"All hands to the launch bay," she drones.

We follow the military man who forced us onto the ship in the first place along with other sharply-dressed men to some kind of elevator, in which we descend down.

Now it's my turn to look as astonished as Sora when we enter the launch bay. In the center of the room, there's a large opening in the floor revealing the water beneath it. Hovering above the water and suspended by cables is a large, long, and impressive-looking submarine.

"It's a submarine," I say out loud to myself. That means we're going underwater.

"Awesome!" Sora grins. "Maybe we'll get to see an underwater kingdom like Atlantica."

Atlantica. The undersea kingdom where mermaids and mermen thrived, along with a multitude of other talking undersea creatures. Where exactly were these people going?

"Attention all personnel," the monotone voice drones over the loudspeaker. "Launch will commence in fifteen minutes."

With nothing to do but to actually board the ship having been roped on another unexpected adventure, Sora, Riku and I walk up another gangplank into the submarine itself.

Fifteen minutes later, the sub lurches slightly and drops down into the water. The three of us have already strolled towards the front of it, and we stare out at the water as the ship descends deeper into the blue depths with each passing second.

Viewing the dark blue waters seems to awaken something in me, and I wince as a brief flash of pain flutters across my frontal lobe. I hear a cheery giggle unmistakably belonging to that of a young woman.

"_Come on, Kairi, you can do it! Just a little bit more!" _There's another giggle.

I struggle in my mind to produce an image to go along with the faint memory of the woman's voice, but it disappointedly fades away before I can conjure up something.

"I wonder if we'll get to see any mermaids…" Sora muses as he stares out at the water, entranced as a small fish swims by.

"Mermaids? Did you just say mermaids?"

A stranger's voice breaks me out of my thoughts, and I look at my left to see a young man in his early 30s standing there. His brown eyes are full of intrigue and curiosity behind a pair of thin black spectacles.

Sora looks surprised, either because the man overheard him or because he knows about the existence of mermaid, or perhaps both. "You know about mermaids?"

The stranger shrugs his shoulders, smiling as he looks away. "Well, they say they're just a legend…but who knows what we'll find when we get there…?" He almost whispers the last part.

"Where…_are_ we going?" Riku asks, curious. We've been roped into this adventure; might as well know what's the destination.

Milo faces us with a bewildered look. "You mean you don't know?" After we shake our heads, he gives us the answer. "We're going to find Atlantis."

Atlantis. That sounded a lot like Atlantica. I wondered if we would see any mermaids out there.

This journey sounds just like the one we just left. We arrive in one world for a short time only to take a trip on a vessel to another one.

"Atlantis? What's there?" I inquire.

"Atlantis," the man says the word in awe. "It's an ancient civilization, possessing technology far beyond our own. It was struck by some cataclysmic event that sank it below the sea."

"People said it was just a myth, pure fantasy, but…" He puffs out his chest, pride exuding from every fiber of his being, his face aglow. "I'm finally going to prove them wrong." He gazes off into the distance, high above our heads, lost in some fantasy of having his goals realized.

He looks down back at us. "Anyways, my name is Milo." He holds out a hand for us to shake. "Milo Thatch. Cartographer, linguist…plumber," he adds on almost reluctantly.

We introduce ourselves in turn, but before our conservation can continue any further, the monotone voice over the loudspeaker makes its presence known.

"Will Milo Thatch please report to the bridge?"

"Wonder what that's about…they probably want me to explain something." Milo looks at us. "If you come with me, I might be able to give you more details about what it is we're looking for."

Sora, Riku and I glance at each other and shrug, as if to say, _Sure, why not?_

The four of us walk past a ton of machinery and various crewmen at their stations performing tasks that I wouldn't even hazard to guess at from the numbers running across the screen. We have to ascend a few staircases to get to the bridge, which is basically just a raised platform. There are a few people already assembled here.

There's a striking blonde woman with her hair in a braid and full lips adorned in red lipstick; an older-looking man with a thick black mustache, a pointed nose, and a shaved head except for the top part, a bored look on his face; a tough-looking teen girl in a foreman's uniform, and a short, rotund man with a large nose, wearing a large coat and some kind of gadget on his face.

A towering middle-aged man with gray-white hair greets Milo as he walks up the steps. He must be the captain of the ship. His uniform seems to say so. And the way he carries himself and the air he gives off just rings unquestionable authority.

"Welcome to the bridge, Mr. Thatch," he addresses him. He gives the rest of us a curious look, slightly confused since he only called for Mr. Thatch and wasn't expecting any spectators.

"We're just here for the show," Sora explains simply.

"Right," the captain says slowly, his eyebrows creasing. He faces the other people present, speaking in a booming voice. "Everyone, I want you to give Mr. Thatch your undivided attention."

Sora, Riku and I slip away to the back as Milo heads up to the front.

"Good afternoon." Milo waves a nervous hand at his audience. "C-can everyone hear me ok?" He adjusts his shirt collar and I can almost see the sweat dripping down his forehead from where I'm standing.

The woman in the foreman uniform pops a bubble with the bubblegum she's blowing. No one utters a word.

"Ok." Milo looks around nervously—I don't think he's much for public speaking—before an idea lights up his face. "H-how about some slides?" He quickly starts up the projector, in an effort to get his presentation rolling.

"The first slide is a picture of a creature _so_ frightening, that some sailors were said to be driven mad by the sight of it." Milo pulls up a slide on the projector, and there are a few quiet snickers and chortles in response to the picture. It's a picture of Milo wearing a swimsuit at the beach with a fishing pole in hand and an inflatable beach toy around his waist.

Milo laughs nervously. "Ha ha, that's…that's the wrong slide…" He furiously searches through a stack of slides, his embarrassment growing with each second.

Riku leans my way. "This isn't going very well," he whispers.

"You said it," I whisper back. I hadn't noticed it before, but Milo was a really awkward guy. He lacked the cool-under-pressure mellowness that Riku possessed, something that would be pretty handy right now.

After a few seconds of fumbling around, Milo eventually finds the right slide, displaying a drawing of a large creature alongside writing in a foreign language.

He explains the creature as the Leviathan, a mythical sea serpent who guards the entrance to Atlantis. He explains that the only way into the hopefully not mythical kingdom is to take a tunnel somewhere in the ocean that'll take us to the ancient remnants of a highway that leads to the civilization.

The presentation however is interrupted (and right when it was getting good). "Captain Rourke?" A man pipes up from the sub's steering wheel in. "You better come take a look at this," he says in an uneasy voice.

The captain lets out a sigh. "Ok, class dismissed." He, trailed by Milo and the blonde woman, walks over to the helmsman and he orders the sub's exterior lights to be turned on. Two fluorescent lights flash out from the front of the vessel, scanning the seafloor.

Scattered all over the sea floor are what look to be the remains of ships, some of them relatively intact, others broken and shattered into pieces. All of them look like they've been here for a long time.

While speculating about what could do something like this, what could destroy so many ships, the loudspeaker crackles.

"Commander…commander…commander…" The person repeats in their bored tone, like a broken record.

The captain heaves a sigh. "Yes, Mrs. Packard, what is it?"

"I'm picking up something on the hydrophone, I think you should hear it."

"Put it on the speakers," the captain responds. Mrs. Packard acquiesces, and our ears pick up a strange echoing noise, that sounds oddly…metallic.

Milo, the captain, and the blonde woman discuss amongst themselves, probably trying to determine what's making that noise, but just several seconds after we first heard the noise, it abruptly cuts out. All of us wait in complete silence, straining our ears to see if the noise is really gone.

"Helmsman!" Captain Rourke booms out. "Bring us about. Tighten our search pattern and slow us to—_whoa_!"

Our backs collide with the floor as something rams into the side of the vessel. I struggle to sit up after the unexpected assault, but before I can even rise up to my knees, the ship is rammed once more and I tumble once again onto my back. The echoing metallic noise is back, and it sounds angry this time.

I groan as the back of my heads starts to throb. I can vaguely hear the loud voice of the captain barking orders to attack a monster.

_Yep, this is just like our last adventure, _I think to myself. _I'm on a ship that gets attacked by external forces. Last time it was exploding waves from a star going supernova. Now it's..._

My eyes widen in terror after I peer out the window of the vessel. An enormous lobster-like creature is swimming towards the ship. I can sense the impact even before it even happens. The creature collides with the ship and rocks it violently once more.

That must be the Leviathan Milo was talking about. The sea creature that guards the entrance to Atlantis. Was that was it was trying to do now? Keep us from Atlantis? Then those ships at the bottom of the sea…were they looking for Atlantis as well, and the monster attacked them before they could find the city?

"It's a machine!" Milo cries out. How did he figure that out?

The sub is in the process of forming counterattacks on the Leviathan, launching torpedo after torpedo at the monster.

I roll over onto my stomach and push up with my hands into a standing position, only to be knocked back onto the floor by a particularly hard attack.

_Ok, I am getting a little tired of this_, I inwardly groan as I roll onto my back. I feel ready to just lie on the floor, if that thing is so intent on having me staying there.

I can hear someone crawling towards me. "Kairi, you ok?" Sora asks. Riku is already getting to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm—"

"Come on people, let's move!" The captain commands and everyone starts rushing out of the room. A crewman rushes over to us and hustles us out as well, though I don't know where we're supposed to be going. I just follow the numerous bodies scurrying in the same direction like a horde of rats running from danger.

"All hands, abandon ships," the woman over the loudspeaker drones.

Sora, Riku and I jog after Milo and a few other people, who I recognize as the people on the bridge during Milo's presentation. We run through a series of doorways and over a bridge to a hatch that the blonde woman is standing beside.

"Move it, people, sometime today would be nice!" She barks as she all but shoves us inside. We race over to the seats of the escape pod, the blonde woman right on our heels as she hurries us forward.

"Everyone grab a seat and buckle in," she directs us as she runs to the front of the pod where Captain Rourke is already waiting.

_He certainly moves fast_, I think as I tighten the seat's straps around my body.

"Lieutenant, get us out of here!" The captain shouts.

"On it!" Nothing happens for a few seconds.

"Helga!"

"I'm working on it!"

A few seconds later, the escape pod jolts, and it disengages from the ship.

"Hold on!" The pod pilots away from the ship, and though I can't see it, I can hear the ship exploding behind us. We made it in the nick of time.

"Where to, Mr. Thatch?" Captain Rourke asks.

Milo frantically flips through an ancient-looking journal. He pushes his glasses up. "We're looking for some kind of big crevice."

"There! Up ahead!" The gray-haired man points when he finds the opening. The lieutenant relays the direction through a radio for the other ships to follow.

I hang onto my seat as I hear the metallic sounds of the Leviathan as he swims after us, not ready to let us go that easily. Not only that, but I can hear the sounds of other escape pods being blown up, one right in front of us.

The attacks by the Leviathan seem to have driven Milo into a state of shock, clutching the journal to his chest with shaking fingers like it's the only thing keeping him alive. Or sane. Relatively speaking.

"It's only a grease trap. It's just like a sink. It's only a grease trap. It's _just like a sink_!" He repeats the words earlier from his presentation on how to find the crevice into Atlantis.

Helga expertly guides the ship into the dark crevice, dodging attacks from the sea monster and keeping the ship moving. Eventually, we start ascending upwards and the Leviathan stops following us.

Several seconds later, we make it to the surface of the water, and Milo exhales loudly. We almost didn't make it.

With the Leviathan no longer a problem now, I can note how once again this is just like the last adventure Sora, Riku and I had. We were driven off a ship once again. But we survived again.

xxxxx

Things start to look pretty grim and bleak after we leave the escape pod and find that no more than 30 people survived, after I take quick sweeping looks at the survivors. We stand on the steps on some ancient ruins as a bald man solemnly releases a candle in a bowl out into the still waters.

"We started this expedition with 200 of the finest men and women I've ever known," Captain Rourke says. "We're all that's left. I won't sugar-coat it, gentlemen. We have a crisis on our hands."

The captain's tone is regretful as everyone either gazes forlornly out at the water or down at the ground, remembering the people that met their fate at the hands of the Leviathan. As the candle floats away from us, a blanket of darkness drapes around us, filling us up with even more gloom.

"But we've been up this particular creek before and we've always come through, paddle or no paddle. I see no reason to change that now."

The captain sweeps his gaze over us. His eyes hold a grim determination in them, a look that reads, _we suffered, but we can make it through this._

"From here on out, everyone pulls double duty. Everyone drives, everyone works." The captain throws his gaze at Mr. Thatch.

"Looks like all our chances of survival rest on you, Mr. Thatch. You and that little book."

With the remembrances done, the captain moves on to getting things rolling. He hands out orders to the crewmen. The lieutenant gives out orders as well. Everyone gears up the trucks and other vehicles that we're going to be driving in till we reach the city of Atlantis.

Because Sora, Riku and I aren't really crewmen, there's not a lot for us to do, so we just huddle together, keeping out of the real workers' ways, since that's all the help we can really provide.

Once all the necessary preparations have been made, the convoy can start to make its procession. Sora, Riku and I hitch a ride in a truck. The trek we're embarking on is a slow one that seems to drag on and on.

We drive over rocky grounds into ancient catacombs, which would be impossible to see through if it wasn't for headlights, illuminating crumbling stone columns that show up from time to time.

After a few hours of trekking through the network of caves, the captain decides to call it a night, and we can all relax as dinner is served. But it doesn't look appetizing in the least. It looks even worse than the bonzabeest stew Mr. Silver tried to throw on me, and I can't even bring myself to even sample a bit. The mere sight of it revolts me and makes me sick to the pit of my stomach.

Milo isolates himself in his tent, poring intensely over the words in his journal by the light of a lantern. He doesn't bother to strike up a conversation with anyone. Sora thinks he might be lonely, so we go over to eat our _wonderful_ dinner with him.

"Hey Milo," Sora greets as we sit down around him.

He peels his eyes from the manuscript in front of him to grace us with a smile. "Oh, hey guys. I…didn't think anyone would be coming over to eat with me." Something tells me this guy doesn't have a lot of friends. Or any.

"Milo, don't you ever close that book?" I ask.

"Yeah, you must have read it a dozen times by now," Riku notes as he stares in barely concealed disgust at tonight's dinner, putting it aside on the ground.

"I know, I know, but…this doesn't make any sense…" He points to a passage in the book with his dinner spoon. "You see, in this passage here, the Shepherd seems to be leading up to something, he calls it the Heart of Atlantis. It could be the power source the legends refer to. But then..." He flips a page, confusion on his face. "It just cuts off. It's almost like there's a missing page."

_The Heart of Atlantis…_My mind takes me back to a conversation I had with Riku and Sora during my training week when I was learning how to wield a Keyblade again.

"_A Keyhole is a gateway in each world that leads to the heart of that world."_

Later after dinner, when it's just me, Sora and Riku, I ask them about it.

"That Heart of Atlantis Milo mentioned earlier…Do you think it has anything to do with the world's keyhole?"

Riku strokes his chin, thinking about it. "It might…We should probably check it out if we get the chance."

The trip resumes the next morning. Completing the catacombs to reach Atlantis takes days, and we come across some diverse environments, like snow-capped regions with ice stalagmites overhanging from the ceiling. One day, we reach an obstacle in the form of a large stone wall that prevents us from moving any further.

Vinny, the mustached-man with the bored expression from earlier, says he can't blow it up with the amount of ammunition he has left. So Mole, the short, rotund man who apparently lives to dig, begins happily digging a hole into the wall to clear a path, like it's his dream job.

The convoy reaches an expansive cavern with a high ceiling and a sheer drop, certain death if you're unlucky enough to tumble over the edge. A thin, narrow bridge connects the side of the platform we're on to the other side. A huge green lantern hangs high from the cavern ceiling halfway across the bridge.

The captain decides camp will be made here, and dinner is served once more. It looks only slightly better than last night, which isn't saying much.

Milo, Sora, Riku, and I sit around a campfire with Vinny, Mole, Mrs. Packard, Audrey, the tough-looking girl in the foreman's outfit, and Joshua Sweet, a bald and strapping medical officer.

From the conversation, I learn that pretty much everyone, besides Milo of course, is on this journey for the money. They're getting paid for their services on the expedition. They weren't even a little interested in the secrets Atlantis could reveal.

Sora, Riku and I could be considered as those who are in it for the adventure. We certainly aren't getting paid for anything. No one's going to pay us to defeat a few Heartless here and there.

None have shown up so far, to my immense gratitude. Not only does this give me a break from fighting, it also saves me from having to explain to everyone what Heartless are. Some of them, especially Captain Rourke, might have a hard time understanding their nature.

We don't even attempt to explain why we're really here, or why we landed on this world in the first place. I get a feeling they wouldn't believe a word we said about the Heartless.

Before going off to bed, the others told Milo and us their stories, how they got into the occupations they had.

Joshua learned all his medical skills from his father, who was a medic before him. He was halfway through medical school before he was drafted into the army, and had to tend to the medical needs of injured soldiers from the battleground.

Even though Audrey was a teenager, she was the chief engineer of the expedition. She learned everything from her father as well, who owned a machine shop. She wanted to raise enough money so she could open another machine shop with her father, a better one than the one they worked out of now.

Vinny used to work at his family's flower shop, but he absolutely hated it. Then one day, there was a gas leak next door and the place exploded, blowing the man out the front door. He found his life's calling that day.

And Mole's story…well, apparently Mole's story was so disturbing that Joshua forbade anyone to speak of it.

"So, what it is that you three do?" He asks Sora, Riku and I with curiosity in his eyes. "I haven't seen you do much of anything on this mission." I figured this question would be asked sooner or later, though I was hoping later. Or never. That would probably be too much to ask though.

"We're Keyblade wielders," Sora promptly answers.

"Keyblade _what_?"

"We're…explorers," Riku rephrases the answer to one that's less confusing. "We travel around and…"He gives a simple shrug of his shoulders. "Look for adventures, I guess."

"Really?" Audrey sits up, peering at us with a mix of skepticism and interest in her eyes. "Where else have you been?"

"Uhh…"A look passes between Sora and Riku, and I recall them telling me before we started our journey to Montressor the golden rule of Keyblade wielders: Don't let people in one world know of the existence of other worlds.

The worlds are separate and are to be kept a secret from each other, with denizens of one world totally ignorant of other peoples outside their realms. Why that was, I don't know.

"Uhh, just…deserts…jungles…castles…"That was a very loose description of what I presume to be Agrabah, Deep Jungle, and the Beast's Castle, respectively. Hopefully those things could be found somewhere in this world.

Audrey nods in approval. "Cool." As long as she doesn't ask any in-depth questions about said worlds in the future, we should be fine.

I fall into a deep sleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. During my slumber, I hear the same feminine giggle I heard when I first boarded the submarine. Deep in the depths of my memories, I am finally gifted with an image. And an actual memory.

_A redheaded mermaid with long flowing locks trailing behind her flitted around with her green tail propelling her around, giggling with delight._

_She flipped seamlessly over onto her back, grinning at me. "Come on, Kairi, you can do it! Just a little bit more!"_

_I was a mermaid as well, and I struggled to keep up with the redhead in my current state. I grunt in frustration. "Ariel, I don't think I'm doing this right."_

_The mermaid known as Ariel swam up to me. "Just kick your tail out behind you. It's simple." She swims gracefully up into an arch, giggling some more. "Don't think about it; just feel it."_

"_Kick your tail out…" I repeated. "Don't think about it; just feel it." I did as Ariel said, and I was pleasantly delighted to find myself swimming much faster and smoother than before._

"_Hey, I'm doing it!" My eyes lighted up as I caught up with Ariel. _

"_See? I knew you could do it."_

_I grinned, and I started smelling…smoke? Wait, that can't be right. We're underwater, how can there be smoke?_

_The stench of smoke becomes stronger though, and that's when I realize it's not part of my dream. It's really happening._

"_Fire! Fire!" I can vaguely make out voices screaming from what sounds like far away. I'm still half-asleep, caught between the embrace of deep slumber and full consciousness. _

"_Fire! Fire! Fire!" Wait…fire?_

Like a lightning bolt has hit me, I jerk awake. Milo is running around outside my tent, alerting everyone to danger.

I peel open the covering to my tent and am alarmed to see that many of the tents are on fire. Angry yellow-orange flames spew upwards. A thick cloud of smoke hangs in the air. People are scurrying about and insects that look a lot like fireflies zoom around in the air.

Sora and Riku are just getting out of their tents. At the captain's orders to head into the caves across the bridge, we make a beeline for one of the trucks that Milo and Audrey are in. The procession quickly proceeds without a second to waste.

Just as we're halfway across the bridge, the ground shakes and shudders. A loud cracking noise rips through the air, and the bridge begins tipping backwards, the truck and other vehicles slipping backwards with it. The end of the bridge hits the ground and my heart drops into my stomach as we slide off. Steering is useless at this point as the truck slides precariously across the ground.

Audrey screams as the truck keeps sliding backwards until we hit a thick stalactite jutting from the ground.

xxxxx

"Alright, who's not dead? Sound off," Captain Rourke calls out in a blunt tone. He is answered with a string of moans of pain.

A single beam of light from a truck's headlights brightens up the darkness cloaking the area where we are.

Moaning, and slightly aching, I pull myself out of the wreckage of what used to be our truck. _At least I wasn't knocked unconscious this time_, I think to myself.

"Audrey, damage report."

"Not as bad as it could have been," she responds after shining a flashlight around the general area. "We totaled drills 2 and 7, but the digger looks like it can still run." She rubs a hand over her lower back, wincing softly. "Lucky for us, we landed in something soft."

The lieutenant fires a flare above, but it doesn't explode before we can see the top of wherever we are. Mole determines that we're standing in a volcano, from the ashes on the ground. But he is quite sure it's dormant, and the only way it could possibly go off was if there was a massive explosion of great magnitude. Cue pointed look at Vinny, the dynamite guy.

Captain Rourke strokes his chin thoughtfully. "If we blow the top off that thing, we'd have a straight shot to the surface…What do you think, Mr. Thatch? Mr. Thatch?" He gazes around. "Thatch?" Flashlight beams search the area, but Milo is nowhere to be found.

"Oh dear," the captain sighs.

Mole starts up the digger and he digs a route through rock formations as the rest of us trail behind, keeping our eyes peeled for the cartographer. After digging through a large wall, we find Milo, but that's not all we find.

We're standing on top of a grassy ledge, gazing in astonishment at a huge, glistening waterfall that extends a ring around what clearly should be the city of Atlantis.

It's a sight to behold. Even the boredom that seems to always be present in Vinny's eyes has to be replaced with captivation.

"Whoa…" Even Riku's impressed.

"It's beautiful," I smile.

Joshua claps Milo on the back. "Milo, I gotta hand it to you. You really came through."

The admiration is cut short after five figures jump out from behind us, pointing jagged spears at us. They have on huge masks that cover half their bodies with fur sticking out at the edges. The eye and mouth shapes strangely glow blue.

"Holy cats, who are these guys?!" The captain inquires of Milo. He reaches for his gun in his holster when one of the figures inches forward.

"They have to be Atlanteans..."

"What?" Helga doesn't believe it, turning her head sharply at Milo. "That's impossible."

The figure in front places their spear down and talks in a foreign language that I don't understand.

"I think it's talking to you," Mole whispers to Milo.

The figure continues in somewhat harsh tones, tapping their spear against the ground. Milo tentatively takes a few steps forward, holding his hands out in front of him in the universal nonverbal language sign that means, _I come in peace._

He begins speaking to the figure in the same foreign language, stumbling over a few words, but he's able to communicate pretty well with them.

_Where'd he learn how to speak that? Must be from the journal._

The figure removes their mask, revealing the speaker to be a young tanned woman with long white hair. She wears a blue bikini top and a blue sarong-type skirt. Around her neck is a necklace with a crystal shard in it and golden earrings and bracelets hang from her ears and her arms respectively. Apart from her white hair, her most striking feature is a blue tattoo just below her left eye.

She peers at Milo with piercing blue and somewhat suspicious eyes as she continues their conversation. It goes back and forth, until Milo discovers that the native woman can speak our language.

"Well that's good then," Captain Rourke smiles as the other companions of the white-haired woman remove their masks to show the same tan skin, white hair and various forms of tattoos. They walk forward to mingle with the rest of us in friendly conversation.

"We are explorers from the surface world," Captain Rourke states. "We come in peace."

The white-haired woman beams a welcoming smile as she sweeps an arm to showcase the sparkling waterfall.

"Welcome, to the city of Atlantis."

xxxxx

ElvenPrincess01: Ok, that chapter was a _little_ shorter than I expected, just a _little_. But then again, some scenes from the movie didn't make it into the story and I had to cut back on some of the dialogue since not all of it was really necessary. At least in my opinion.

ElvenPrincess01: I was a bit unsure at times how to proceed with the story, since I had to throw Team SRK into the mix, which is why the story wasn't updated much earlier. Plus after Treasure Planet, I wasn't sure what world to tackle next, so it was a while before I actually begun work on this chapter.

ElvenPrincess01: Er...that's all I really have to say right now. Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review and subscribe! Bye!

xxxxx


	14. Everybody Wants To Rule The World

ElvenPrincess01: Hello, FanFiction universe. I'm here to give you the final part of the Atlantis saga to Forever Destiny. Here with me now is Sora.

ElvenPrincess01: So Sora, what do you think is going to happen now that we've met the Atlanteans?

Sora: I'm just here so I don't get fined.

ElvenPrincess01:...right…what was your favorite part of the last chapter? Meeting Milo? Finding Atlantis?

Sora: I'm just here so I don't get fined.

ElvenPrincess01:….what would you like to see in this chapter?

Sora: I'm just here so I don't get fined.

ElvenPrincess01: *twitching* How…do you think the saga will end?

Sora: I'm just here so I don't get fined.

ElvenPrincess01: Oh for crying out loud, will you stop saying that?

Sora: I'm just here so I don't get fined.

ElvenPrincess01: Is that all you can say?

Sora: I'm just here so I don't get fined.

ElvenPrincess01: Can you say anything else?

Sora: Shout out Destiny Islands.

ElvenPrincess01: That's it?

Sora: I'm just here so I don't get fined.

ElvenPrincess01: Oh come on, I wouldn't fine you for being absent; you just wouldn't get paid.

Sora: I'm just here so I don't get fined.

ElvenPrincess01: Can you at _least_ do the disclaimer?

Sora: I'm just here so I don't get fined.

ElvenPrincess01: Forget it; I'll just do my own disclaimer. I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, or any other franchises mentioned in this story. Please enjoy this installment while I go deal with Sora.

Sora: I'm just here so I don't get fined.

ElvenPrincess01: *sighs*

(Kudos if you get the reference to what Sora is saying. If not, go to YouTube and type in "Marshawn Lynch I'm just here so I don't get fined.")

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter _

"_Well that's good then," Captain Rourke smiles as the other companions of the white-haired woman remove their masks to show the same tan skin, white hair and various forms of tattoos. They walk forward to mingle with the rest of us in friendly conversation._

"_We are explorers from the surface world," Captain Rourke states. "We come in peace."_

_The white-haired woman beams a welcoming smile as she sweeps an arm to showcase the sparkling waterfall. _

"_Welcome, to the city of Atlantis."_

**Chapter 14: Everybody Wants To Rule The World**

"My name is Kidagakash Nedakh," the woman introduces herself. "But you can call me Kida. Come," she says grabbing Milo's wrist and pulling him with her. "You must speak with my father now."

Kida's father is the king of Atlantis, making her the princess. She and her companions had been following us through the catacombs for quite some time, wanting to keep an eye on us in case we proved to be hostile newcomers to the city.

"Squad B, head back to the shaft and salvage what you can," Captain Rourke orders. "We rendezvous in 24 hours."

The natives walk in front of us over the wooden bridge as we follow behind in the convoy of vehicles. After we cross the bridge, we reach Atlantis itself. The city, as far as I can see, is shrouded by white, misty clouds. It's like we're in the sky.

Scattered about are a few crumbling ruins, and a tall peak looms in the distance, our destination.

Audrey, Mole, Mr. Sweet, Vinny, Mrs. Packard, and Cookie (the expedition's chef) all wait in the veranda right outside the steps leading up to the throne room while everyone else heads inside after Kida. Two beefy guards each carrying a spear open up the doors to let us inside.

The throne room isn't really a room, since there are no walls and I can still see outside. It's an open space. The first thing I notice is a giant stone statue which has been beheaded or just happened to have lost its head and it was never replaced, its massive head resting next to its body. But before that is a pond with square stepping stones that lead to the throne. Lily pads float lazily in it. Leafy vines cover the bases of wide columns.

They're not the only vegetation around here. There are vines, bushes and plants all over the place. It's a very naturalistic setting.

Seated on the throne is a wizened old man with a receding hairline that starts at the back of his head, with long white hair and a long beard. He stares out at us from eerily white eyes below thick white eyebrows. Blue tattoos decorate his face.

He wears a baby-blue robe, and a scepter-like stick rests beside him as he slumps over in his chair. Judging from the look he's giving us as we approach, I can tell he's not going to be part of the welcoming committee.

Kida kneels in front of him, and begins speaking in the Atlantean tongue. The elderly man responds in a croaky voice that coincides with his old age. He sits up in his chair as their conversation continues.

I don't understand a word of what they're saying, but judging from facial expressions and nuances in their voices, it seems that Kida is trying to reason with her father about us, and the elder is a little more distrustful of us strangers. He gets the final word in as Kida hangs her head in clear disappointment.

"Your Majesty?" The captain pipes up. "On behalf of my crew, I would like to thank you for welcoming us into your city." He bows.

"You presume much to think you are welcome here."

"Sir, we have come a long way to—"

"I know why you are here. You are seeking something, but you will not find it here. Your journey has been in vain."

Captain Rourke isn't so quick to give up though. "But we are peaceful explorers, men of science."

"You say you are peaceful…" Kida's father stares deeply at the commander. "Yet you bring weapons." He's got a point.

"Our weapons help us to remove…obstacles we may encounter," the captain reasons.

"Some obstacles cannot be removed with a show of brute force." He promptly stands up, surprising me with unexpected swiftness at his old age. He grabs his scepter.

"Return to your people at once," he commands us. "You must leave Atlantis at once."

Captain Rourke chuckles. "Sir, please be reasonable about this, we—"

"Sir?" Milo interrupts, tapping him on his shoulder. "Something tells me we should do as he says."

Mr. Rourke thinks it over. "May I respectfully ask that we spend one night here? It will give us time to rest, and to restock our supplies, and be ready to travel by morning."

Kida's father grunts, not even wanting to let us stay even a second longer in the city. The thought bothers him, but after a struggle he relents.

"Very well…One night. And no more."

"Thank you." Captain Rourke bows again before the rest of us turn to follow him out.

"Wait," the king calls out. We all turn around expectantly.

"You three." The king points a long, bony finger at Sora, Riku and I. "Stay. I would like to speak with you."

The three of us share looks of confusion. Why would the King want to talk with us?

Milo and the others depart, leaving us alone with Kida and her father. She has risen to her feet now, looking at her father curiously. He shuffles back to his throne, placing his scepter back where it was.

He doesn't say anything at first. His eyes give no clue to what he's thinking.

"You three…are Keyblade wielders, are you not?"

That statement shocks me. He knows about Keyblade wielders?

"Yes, I know about Keyblade wielders." I didn't realize I said that out loud. "I can sense it. You are not the first Keyblade wielders to visit here."

"You mean…other Keyblade wielders have been down here before?" Riku asks, interested. Sora did say we never came across any other Keyblade wielders in our travels. We missed an opportunity to meet them.

"Yes, they have. They visited our city a long time ago."

"How many were there? What happened to them?" Sora questions the king.

"There were only three I believe. They didn't stay long. They accidentally ended up in this city and left quickly."

The king narrowed his eyes slightly at us. "I would like to know why you three are here." His voice takes a slightly harder tone.

"We're looking for the Keyhole to the city, sir," Riku answers. "You wouldn't happen to know where it is? We think it might be near the Heart of Atlantis."

The king shifts in his seat. "I know nothing of any Keyhole. And you will not find the Heart of Atlantis here."

"But—"

"That is all. You may leave now."

xxxxx

"What was that all about?" Sora frowns as we are escorted out of the throne room. We stand right outside the doors. "What does he mean 'you will not find the Heart of Atlantis here?'"

"Maybe it's a sacred object and he doesn't want us to go near it," I infer. "We are strangers after all."

"Well if the Keyhole is close to it, then we'll have no choice but to go to where it is located." Riku surveys the area with sprawling wide pillars wrapped in tangled vines "We haven't seen any Heartless here, but who knows what could happen? We need to lock the Keyhole up fast."

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Milo hiding behind a pillar. His back is facing us and he appears to be talking to himself.

"Hey, Milo, what are you doing?" I say.

He starts, turning around. "Oh hey, I was just, uh, thinking," he smiles nervously. "What did the King have to say to you?"

Before we can answer, the door to the throne room opens and out steps Kida. She marches over to our little group.

"I have some questions for you, and you are not leaving this city until they are answered," she demands in a tone that asserts her authority.

She leads us through the ruins of her city, asking us question after question, her curiosity and intrigue overflowing.

"What world did you come from? How did you get here? What do you do for fun on your world? Are there lots of people there?" These are just some of the questions she throws at us, but she doesn't even give us a chance to answer any of them; she just overwhelms us with more questions.

"Wait, wait, wait, slow down," Milo stops her in the middle of the interrogation. "How about this? You ask one question, I ask one question, and we go back and forth like that. Ok?"

Kida agrees. "Very well. You go first."

"Ok, uh, how did you end up here? I mean, not you personally, but how did all this—"Milo gestures about him. "End up down here?"

Kida sighs, turning away from him as she slowly walks on. "It was said that the gods became jealous of Atlantis, so they sent a cataclysm down and banished us here. All I can remember is the sky darkening, people shouting and running, then…a bright light, like a star, floating above the city."

Kida gazes into the distance longingly, holding onto a statue, her eyes filled with sadness. "My father said it called my mother to it. I never saw her again."

Sympathy floods Milo's face. "I'm sorry. I know how you feel. I lost my mother and—"He abruptly stops, realizing something.

"Hold on a minute, are you telling me you remember because you were _there_? But that's impossible, that…" Milo can't seem to process the information. "That...that would make you…over eight thousand years old."

"Yes," the native woman responds simply. Milo's jaw drops. I'm shocked too. Kida looks to be in her early twenties, but she's lived for over eight millenniums? She's looking extremely well for her age.

"So the people here are over eight thousand years old?" Sora asks.

"Yes, they are. Now I have a question for you: how did you get to this place?"

Milo quickly recovers from his shock of learning Kida's real age and reaches into the knapsack he carries on himself. "Well I'll tell you it wasn't easy," he admits as he pulls out the journal he so eagerly pored over earlier, handing it to Kida. "If it wasn't for this journal, we never would have made it."

Kida flips through the pages. "Ok, so second question," Milo says. "Legend says that your people possess a battery source of some kind, a—"

"You mean you can understand this?" Kida inquires.

"Well, yeah, I'm a linguist, I study languages, now—"

She practically shoves the book in his face and points to a passage. "This! You can read this?"

"Yes, yes! I can read Atlantean just like you."

Kida purses her lips as her eyes sweep over a page in the book. There's a hint of confusion in her eyes that Milo sees as well.

"Unless…you don't know how to speak Atlantean," he says slowly.

"No one can. Such knowledge has been lost to us long ago." Kida's expression immediately changes and she presses the journal to Milo's chest.

"Quick! Read something!" She excitedly demands.

"Uh…ok…" Milo begins reading a passage out loud in Atlantean. Kida translates his words.

"Follow the narrow passage for another league. There you will find the fifth marker…"

"Yeah, that's it," Milo grins. "How was my accent?"

"Boorish. Provincial. And you speak it through your nose," comes Kida's honest reply.

Milo chuckles, pushing his glasses up over his nose. "Yeah, I have to work on that."

Kida addresses us at large. "Come. I must show you something."

She walks over to pull off a sheet covering something, revealing a stone vehicle shaped like a fish.

"Hmm…" Milo's eyebrows knit as he kneels down to get a better look at the device. "Looks like some kind of vehicle."

"That's shaped like a fish," Riku adds.

"Does that mean it swims?" Sora wonders aloud.

Frustration spreads over Kida's face. "I have tried to get it to work, but no what matter what I try, I cannot get it to respond."

"Let's see…There's some writing here…" Milo peers over the front of the vehicle, adjusting his glasses. There's Atlantean writing around an empty square.

"Place crystal into slot."

"Yes, yes, I have done that," Kida sighs impatiently.

"Gently place your hand on the inscription pad."

"Yes, yes."

"Did you turn the crystal one quarter turn back?"

"Yes, yes."

"While your hand was on the inscription pad?"

"Ye…no."

Milo stands up, wiping his hands on his pants. "Then that must be the problem here. Here, why don't you give it a try?"

Kida takes the crystal necklace from around her neck and places the crystal into the empty slot. As soon as the crystal is inserted inside, the inscription pad glows blue. Kida turns the crystal a quarter turn, keeping her hand on the inscription pad like Milo said. She removes the crystal and jumps back in surprise as the vehicle makes a noise as it starts up and slowly rises into the air. It hovers a couple feet above the ground

"Whoa…" Milo breathes in awe as we gather around it. "With this thing, I could see the whole city in no time. I wonder how fast it goes."

He presses a finger to the inscription pad. The fish vehicle jets forward and crashes into a wall. It rebounds and goes flying around the area, bouncing off wall to wall.

We are forced to drop down to the ground in an instant as it almost clips our heads off when it hurtles our way. It crashes into the ground, crumbling the earth there, and doesn't move. Tendrils of smoke rise from the wreckage and sparks fly from it.

Kida gives Milo an amused look as he laughs nervously in response.

"So…who's hungry?"

xxxxx

Instead of eating, Kida escorts us on a tour around her wonderful city.

We climb up a tall statue that provides an excellent view of the town down below. The sea stretches off into the horizon beyond where I can see. Several green creatures fly off into the distance. The sight is so incredible that I almost forget that I don't exactly mix with heights.

Next we stop by the docks where fishermen gather on boats to capture lobsters in the nets they cast into the waters.

After that it's the bustling marketplace, with a host of shops owned by friendly shopkeepers. Pleasant chatter fills the air, along with a variety of smells from foods that are silently asking to be brought. Little children run in between stands, giggling happily, without a care in the world.

Kida leads us all over the city, until I'm sure we have seen every part of it. The tour finishes in the middle of the afternoon, and we are treated to lunch.

The food in Atlantis doesn't look too appetizing, but I haven't eaten anything all day and by this point, I'm starving. I'll settle for anything right about now. Perhaps even some bonzabeest stew.

Surprisingly, the food isn't too bad. I'm served a bowl of steaming, thick, brownish-orange...something with the texture of pudding. It tastes sweet, with just a hint of spice in it to excite my taste buds.

There's also another bowl of a green substance that tastes somewhat like guacamole. The only dish I don't try is the one that involves a small, _very_ _alive_ green creature with numerous eyes. He squirms around in the bowl he was placed in.

"Don't forget to eat the head," Mr. Sweet recommends Vinny as he takes the head off the creature in one quick bite. "That's where all the nutrients are." I do my best to keep vomit from coming up my throat.

Kida stares at Sora, Riku, and I. "So, you three are Keyblade wielders?"

I swallow the vomit threatening to ascend my throat to answer Kida's question. "Yeah, we are."

"It has been a long time since Keyblade wielders have visited our city. You said you were looking for something?"

Riku takes this one. "Yeah, we're looking for the Keyhole to this city. We think it might have something to do with the Heart of Atlantis. Do you know anything about it?"

"You want to know about the Heart of Atlantis too?" Milo glances up from his dinner. "I've been trying to figure more about that as well."

"There is a mural not too far from here with writing all around the pictures. Perhaps you can translate it, Milo. It might have something to do with the Heart of Atlantis."

Once we're done with lunch, Kida leads the four of us to the edge of the city. The sunken ruins of an ancient temple are half-submerged in the water. Fireflies dance all around us, illuminating the area.

"You know, Kida," Milo begins, "the most we expected to see were some broken buildings, maybe some broken pottery.."He smiles as he plays with a firefly on his finger. "But instead we find a living, thriving society."

A long and troubled sigh escapes Kida's lips as Milo places the firefly into a lantern Kida holds. Her face becomes suddenly weary, a total 180 from the usual excited smile she wears.

"Our city is not thriving. True, our people live. But our culture is dying. We are like a stone the ocean beats against. With each passing year, a piece of our culture is chipped away. Soon, there will be nothing left."

"I'm so sorry," Milo says. "I wish I could do something to help."

"I believe the mural may hold the key to our survival. If you could look at it, perhaps we should be able to get the answers we seek."

Milo shrugs. "No problem. Where is it?"

"It's underwater. You do know how to swim, don't you? It's a bit of a distance from here." Kida removes her sarong to reveal a bikini bottom underneath.

After taking a deep breath, we plunge into the watery depths. We swim past more ancient ruins buried deep in the water; crumbling porticos, columns, and more architectural structures. Underwater ferns litter the ground floor.

After swimming into a temple, we swim upwards until we reach a pocket of air stuck beneath a corner of the ceiling, taking a much-needed breath of air. Going back down, Kida takes us to a large mural resting underwater, which displays colorful pictures surrounded by Atlantean writing.

Milo hurriedly begins translating, using the light emitting from Kida's crystal as reading light, before our oxygen supply runs out. When he needs to take a breath of air, we head back to the pocket of air again.

"It's amazing," he breathes. "It details the whole history of Atlantis."

"The light I saw, the star hanging in the middle of the city," Kida presses anxiously. "What does the mural say about that?"

"I don't know yet. But we're going to find out. Come on."

The five of us swim to another part of the mural to see drawings of large figures bordered in a blue circle with their arms outstretched to the sides. A drawing of a large blue star with dozens of points is above the figures. Swimming upwards, our eyes fall upon another drawing of figures standing in a semicircle. Blue lines of light beam between their chests, there's another blue star with dozens of points.

"It's the Heart of Atlantis," Milo states when we stop to take a break.

"What?"

"It's the Heart of Atlantis. That's what the Shepherd was talking about! It wasn't a star; it was some kind of crystal, like these." He holds up Kida's crystal.

"Don't you get it? The power source I've been looking for, the bright light you remembered, they're the same thing! I…didn't see anything about a Keyhole though," Milo adds to the inquiring looks Sora, Riku and I were giving him, disappointing us.

Kida shakes her head, bewildered. "It cannot be."

"It's what keeping all of these things, you, all of Atlantis, alive."

"Then where is it now?" That's the question we all want to know.

"I don't know. You'd think something as important as this would be in the journal. But—"He stops, staring hard at the water. "Unless…_the missing page_…come on, let's go back.

Taking a large gulp of air, we propel ourselves back to the surface. As soon as my head pops above the water, I take a nice, deep breath, allowing the rich oxygen to fill my lungs again. I push my wet, dripping hair out of my face.

"You had a nice swim?" I jump when I hear Captain Rourke's voice from the shore. I look up to see him sitting down on a flight of steps, with Vinny, Audrey, practically the whole gang behind him, along with a few other people wearing long green trench coats and oxygen masks.

"Hey guys," Sora greets as he confusedly looks around the faces of our friends. "What's going on?"

Almost everyone is holding a gun in their hands.

"W-what's with all the guns?" Milo asks. No one says a word. They just stare down as us, their faces hard.

"Guys?"

Still nothing.

Realization dawns on Milo now, and he bangs his fist against the ground in frustration, cursing himself.

"I'm such an idiot." He glares up at Mr. Rourke's smirking face. "This is just another treasure hunt. You're after the crystal."

"Oh, you mean this?" The captain pulls out the missing page from the Shepherd's Journal from his boot.

Milo seems to deflate. "The Heart of Atlantis…" He whispers. Captain Rourke had it the entire time. He was playing us the entire time. I glance around at the faces of the people we had befriended on the journey. Were they in it the entire time too?

"Yeah." The captain stands up. "I would have told you sooner, but it was strictly on a need-to-know basis, and well…now you know." He attempts to smooth over the situation as if can be repaired that easily.

"I had to be sure you were one of us. And you three." He spares a glance at Sora, Riku and I. "You can join too." He extends out a welcoming hand. "Welcome to the club."

We all shirk away from it. "I'm no mercenary," Milo proclaims as he glares up at the traitor captain.

Kida surfaces near us and is immediately pulled out of the water by a soldier. Almost instantly, a line of guns are drawn on us, preventing us from doing anything. But Kida is not someone to be messed with and she fights back, knocking the soldier who pulled her out of the water into the water himself with a splash.

More soldiers attempt to take her down, but a series of knee strikes and punches take them down easily. She pounces on one, pulling out her knife, when Captain Rourke shoots it out of her hand with a gun.

The defeating gunshot elicits a momentary lapse in Kida's resistance. A couple of soldiers dash up behind the woman before she can recover and grab her arms, pulling her away.

"Mercenary?" The captain smirks. "I prefer the term adventurer-capitalist. Besides, you're the one who got us here in the first place."

"You don't know what you're tampering with, Rourke!"

"What's to know? It's big, it's shiny, and it's going to make all of us rich."

"You think it's some kind of a diamond, I thought it was some kind of battery, but we're both wrong. It's their _life force_." Milo emphasizes his words as he implores Mr. Rourke to show some reason and reconsider his plan.

"That crystal is the only thing keeping these people alive. If you take that away, they'll all die."

"Well that changes things…I think I'd _triple_ the price."

"Rourke." Milo gets out of the water. "Don't…_do_ this."

"Don't think of it like it's a bad thing," the commander says. "Think of it as us providing a necessary service to the archaeological community." That's one way of putting it.

"Not. Interested."

"Same here," Sora speaks up for the rest of us.

The captain heaves a sigh, very upset. "I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed. I really hate when negotiations go sour."

He snaps his fingers and one of the soldiers holding up Kida pushes her roughly onto her knees. He levels a rifle at her back.

Milo is horrified. "Now, let's try this again." The captain holds up the missing page in the linguist's face.

xxxxx

"Where is it?" Captain Rourke demands of Milo as the others ransack the throne room, knocking over urns and tearing down tapestries. He seizes Milo by his shirt collar. "There's gotta be something else."

"Well there isn't!" Milo huffs. "It just says the Heart of Atlantis lies in the eyes of her king."

Mr. Rourke drops an exasperated Milo onto the ground. He strides over to the Atlantean king who's sitting on his throne.

"Well maybe old King Cole can fill in the blanks. How about it, chief? Where's the crystal chamber?"

"You will destroy yourselves," the king warns in a raspy voice.

"Maybe I'm not being clear." Mr. Rourke flat-out punches the king in his chest. The man groans, and he topples helplessly to the ground with a thud.

Kida gasps and tries to escape from Helga's grasp on her to help her father, but Helga holds her back. Her eyes flash with resentment and she spits out angry words in Atlantean that I don't need a translation for to know that she's pissed.

Mr. Sweet worriedly kneels over the king. He is a doctor after all. "Rourke, this was not part of the plan," he scowls up at the captain.

He brushes him off. "Plans change. I suggest you put a bandage over that bleeding heart of yours, doc. It doesn't suit a mercenary." Arrogantly settling himself down on the king's throne, he props himself up, making himself comfortable.

He whips out his gun once more. "I see as usual, diplomacy has failed." He cocks his gun at the elderly ruler, who's being held up by two soldiers now.

"I'm going to give you to 10 to tell me where the crystal chamber is." He pushes a bullet into the chamber . "One…two…nine..."He stops counting as his smirk vanishes. I can see him eyeing a spot in the pond.

"The Heart of Atlantis…" He murmurs. "Lies in the eyes of her king." The king dips his head in defeat as Captain Rourke solves the puzzle.

The broad-shouldered man stands up and walks to the pond. "We got it, boys," he grins broadly.

"Rourke, stop this," Milo pleads once more. "You don't know what you're doing."

"Yeah, you have no idea what this power is capable of," Riku pleads as well.

Both of them are ignored however as the older man steps up on a barely visible pedestal in the center of the pond. As soon as his boots touch the pedestal, the ground begins to rumble, and the pedestal slowly begins descending.

"Hurry, get on." He hastily snatches Milo by his shirt collar once more and pulls him onto the pedestal with him. Helga pushes herself and Kida on as well, and Sora, Riku, and I are close enough where we can step on as well.

We descend deep underground to the crystal chamber covered in water. Piles of boulders are either partially or completely submerged in it. The only place to stand is the platform we're in now.

High in the air are several large, floating stone masks of different sizes, but all sharing the same bright blue eyes. They revolve slowly around a bright blue light that illuminates the room, a blue miniature sun.

"Jackpot," Captain Rourke remarks. He treads forward to the end of the platform and kicks a stone into the water with a _plop_.

As soon as he does that, the blue energy source changes to a furious red, and red rays sweep the area like a scanner.

"Ok Thatch, what's next?" Mr. Rourke inquires.

"There's a giant crystal hovering 150 feet above our heads over a bottomless pit of water. Does anything surprise you?"

"The only thing that surprises me is…"

The energy source suddenly changes back to blue. Kida whispers something in her native tongue, effectively drawing me from the argument that is unfolding between Milo and Mr. Rourke. The crystal around her neck is floating in the air, pointing towards the light above us. Her pupils expand and her eyes turn a transparent blue, like she's being hypnotized.

"Kida?" She doesn't respond to me, but steadily paces forward.

Milo and Mr. Rourke are still arguing until Kida passes them. Their argument ceases almost abruptly as they stare in puzzlement at Kida.

"What's going on, Thatch?" Kida stands at the edge of the platform, entranced, her head pointed up at the blue light that's captivating her.

Milo looks into the journal. "All it says here is that the crystal is alive, somehow. I don't know how to explain it. It's their…deity, their power source."

"What?"

"They're a part of it, it's a part of them. It's..."

Milo doesn't finish his sentence as Kida begins to cross the water guided by the Heart of Atlantis. When she moves directly beneath the Heart, the masks spread out and a column of light shines down on her.

She is lifted into the air by some mysterious force, her white hair billowing behind her. Mere seconds later, she rises up into the Heart of Atlantis itself. The masks encircle her and revolve around the crystal faster and faster, splintering out radiant beams of light.

Then they start slowing down until they go back to their usual state of slow revolving. But the crystal has disappeared and in its place is Kida. Her appearance has totally changed.

She's entirely blue. Her hair, her skin, everything. She's glowing blue just like the Heart of Atlantis.

All of us, even Helga, marvel at the spectacle, but Captain Rourke looks none too impressed.

_Did she…fuse with the Heart of Atlantis or something? And where's the Keyhole? I don't see it anywhere._

Kida slowly descends to stand gracefully on the water. A white, ethereal light shines on her.

"Kida…" Milo murmurs.

Her eyes flash open. The masks come crashing down into the water with clamorous thuds as Kida starts toward us. She pays no heed to them, continuing to proceed forward with poise.

Mr. Rourke sweeps his eyes over her as she goes by us. "Well it looks like the price…has just quadrupled.

xxxxx

Kida, who appears unconscious and doesn't move an inch, is loaded into a box which is then loaded onto the back of a truck. Mr. Rourke orders soldiers to prevent anyone, including the Atlanteans which have gathered in the center of the city, to come any closer.

Sora, Riku, Milo and I are among the throng of observers, displeased at how everyone is just cool with the fact that an entire civilization is going to die and it's going to be all their faults.

"So…this is how it ends…"Milo shakes his head. "Wiping out an entire civilization, but hey, you'll be rich." He glares.

"Congratulations, Audrey," he addresses the young mechanic right as she is about to hop into the driver's seat of the truck carrying Kida. "I guess now you'll be able to open up that second garage with your father after all." She hangs her head for just a second in momentary shame before she hoists herself in the driver's seat.

"And Vinny, you can start a whole chain of flower shops, I'm sure your family's going to be very proud." The dynamite enthusiast turns his head away in guilt as well.

"Cause that's what it's all about. Money," Milo spits bitterly.

"Oh, get off your soapbox, Thatch." Mr. Rourke rolls his eyes. "Come on, people, let's move."

Audrey hesitates however, her hand resting on the still-open car door.

"That was an order, not a suggestion!" Helga barks.

The teenager slams her door shut, and I think that her mind is made up, but then she kicks the door back open again and jumps out. With a determined look on her face, she resolutely marches over to stand beside us.

She throws a meaningful look at Vinny who resolves himself to join us as well. Cookie, Mole, and Mrs. Packard all join us after seeing the others taking a stand.

"I don't believe it." Mr. Rourke's upper lip pulls back in disgust.

"This is wrong and you know it!" Audrey shouts.

"We're this close to our biggest payday and you pick now to grow a conscience?" He's in disbelief. "Well if that's the way you want it, fine! More for me!"

He takes up Audrey's post in the truck and starts it up as he leads the convoy, carting off with the "treasure" over the bridge. The second they cross over the bridge with Kida, the waters from the waterfall dry up, and the lights from the crystal necklaces around the Atlanteans' necks fade away until they are just dull stones.

"We can't let him do this!" Milo tries to run after him but Vinny pulls him back.

"Wait a sec."

The bridge explodes (with dynamite placed earlier by Vinny I'm going to assume), sending wood from the bridge flying our way, forcing us to duck for cover.

"Ok. Now you can go."

"Hey Milo!" Mr. Sweet calls down from the throne room. "You better get up here."

xxxxx

Mr. Sweet informs us that the king is dying thanks to internal bleeding from Mr. Rourke's punch earlier, and there is nothing that can be done for him.

"The crystals have some kind of healing power," Milo thinks aloud. "Maybe they can be used to—"

"No," the king coughs as he lies on a mat. "Where is my daughter?" He only has to look into Milo's face to receive his answer.

"She has been chosen, like her mother before her." His voice carries great sorrow. "In times of danger, the crystal would choose a host, one of royal blood, to protect itself, and its people."

"Wait, so you mean that thing is alive?" I ask.

"In a way, yes. The crystal thrives on the collected emotions of all who came became before us. In return, it provides power, longevity, and protection. It developed a consciousness of its own." The king coughs.

"In my arrogance, I sought to use it as a weapon for war, but its power proved too much for me to handle. It overwhelmed us. And led to our destruction. That's why I hid it beneath the city. To keep history from repeating itself. And to save Kida from the same fate that befell her mother."

"Please," he begs us. "You must save my daughter. If she remains bonded to the crystal, she will be lost to it forever."

He removes the necklace from around his neck with trembling fingers. "The burden I carry would have been hers to carry when the time was right, but now"—he hands the necklace to Milo—"it is yours."

"Me?" Milo reluctantly accepts the crystal.

"Yes. Return the crystal. Save Atlantis. Save my daughter."

Those are his dying words. His hand becomes limp and falls lifelessly from Milo's. His eyes flutter close. He does not move anymore.

xxxxx

"Milo, what are you doing?" Audrey asks Milo as he boards one of the fish vehicles Kida showed earlier on our city tour.

After the death of the king of Atlantis, Milo is determined to stop Mr. Rourke and save Kida, no matter what the cost. Audrey and the others, along with a number of Atlanteans, are joining the rescue mission. But without a bridge, we need another way to leave the city.

"Just follow my lead. It's simple. All you have to do is use the crystals." He demonstrates how to power up the vehicle, intriguing the others. He uses the King's crystal he was given to power up the vehicles for the non-Atlanteans who don't possess crystals.

Riku boards a marlin vehicle, Sora gets a goldfish, and I choose an angelfish. Milo leads the pack with a hammerhead shark.

"This is it, people! We're going to save Atlantis! Or die trying! Now let's do it!" He starts driving off and we all follow after him.

The air rushes through my hair as we fly over the city, and I can hear faint cheering from the Atlanteans below us. If the situation wasn't so serious, I might have enjoyed myself, racing through the sky like this. But I have no time for that. I have to be on my guard.

"Ok, here's the plan!" Milo shouts as we navigate our way through twisting tunnels. "We come in low and fast and take them by surprise!"

"Yeah?" Audrey calls back. "I got news for you: Rourke is never taken by surprise and he's got a lot of guns."

"Well do you have any other suggestions?!"

"Yeah!" Vinny yells as he struggles to keep up in his goldfish-shaped vehicle. "Don't get shot!"

We come up on Mr. Rourke and the others in the volcano shaft, preparing to release a red blimp into the air. The box carrying Kida is attached to it.

Mr. Rourke and Milo notice each other at the same time. "There he is!" Milo points.

Mr. Rourke's eyes narrow in annoyance. "We got company!"

Soldiers immediately fire bullets upon us as we fan out, trying to take Vinny's advice and not get shot.

_Don't get shot, don't get shot, don't get shot. _I have fast enough reflexes where I'm able to swerve on the turn of the dime to narrowly avoid the gunfire. Others aren't too lucky. I see a couple of the fish vehicles exploding into bursts of flame.

A few planes are sent up to take us on in the sky, as if things aren't bad enough as they are. Now I have to dodge bullets from the ground and from the air. I place my hand on the inscription pad to shoot out blue blasts of energy at the enemies, which definitely helps a lot.

Helga and Rourke are on the steadily rising blimp. We can't let them reach the surface.

Milo orders himself, Vinny, Sora, Riku, and me to be decoys while Mr. Sweet and Audrey fly under the blimp and cut Kida down.

Helga fires bullets at us with a gun she pulls from her holster, and Mr. Rourke fires bullets from a bazooka-like gun. We dodge them all, hoping to distract them long enough to let Mr. Sweet and Audrey do their thing.

But they eventually notice what the pair are up to, and Helga fires at them, forcing the two to abort the mission and flee on the vehicle they're sharing. Fortunately, Helga runs out of ammo before she can hit either one of them. She slams her gun in annoyance on the floor with a scowl. Mr. Rourke is out too.

"Hey, Sora, Riku, Kairi!" Milo calls to us. "Follow my lead!"

He pilots his vehicle near the blimp and jumps off onto the balloon. His vehicle crashes into one of the blimp's air bags, causing the blimp to lose altitude.

Before I can talk myself out of how risky this move is, I, along with Sora and Riku, do the same thing. I clutch onto the blimp for dear life, telling myself not to look down. We carefully climb down the blimp and unloosen ropes fastened to the balloon and swing down. Milo's outstretched legs hit Mr. Rourke squarely in his chest, sending him sprawling onto his back.

Before Milo can capitalize on the attack, Mr. Rourke is on his feet in a heartbeat, and he cleanly socks Milo in his face. Milo stumbles back into our arms, steadying him.

Mr. Rourke sneers. "You don't know when to give up. You've been a pain in my neck for a while now." There's a weird gleam in his eyes.

"I consider myself an even-tempered man, since it takes a lot to get under my skin, but you win the prize! I've waited too long for this! I've been pining for that crystal for quite some time now, and I'm not going to lose it to you, or these kids!" He glares angrily at us.

Maddened fervor sets on him now. "Imagine the money I can make off the crystal. And since Helga took a little tumble off the blimp…" He chuckles heartlessly. "All the proceeds will belong to _me_."

"Money is what makes the world go round. And I will have plenty of it. I will not let you stop me when I've come this far. So what if a civilization dies out?! It's called natural selection. I'm speeding up the process."

"And now…now…" Mr. Rourke is taking in long, deep breaths. His face contorts more and more with greed and fury. I frown as a visible dark aura surrounds him.

"Uh…what's going on?"

Mr. Rourke laughs insanely, the dark aura growing even more.

Riku straightens up. "He's turning into a Heartless."

Milo looks at him in confusion. "A what?"

Mr. Rourke throws his head back and a cry erupts from his lips. The dark aura around him explodes, and he transforms into a Chill Ripper Heartless.

Heartless Rourke is gigantic. He's covered head to toe in silver and grey armor, his helmet sporting two short, white spikes and a long, twisted, black antenna. A small opening in the front of his helmet just barely exposes his black face and glowing yellow eyes. Jagged, light blue, ice blades replace his hands.

Milo jumps back in surprise. "Whoa, what is that?! What happened to Rourke?!"

Before we can answer his question, the floor we're standing on starts creaking, thanks to the excess weight of Heartless Rourke, and the blimp loses more and more altitude, veering to the left.

The Chill Ripper jumps at us, but we quickly dodge out of the way. The floor creaks noisily where the Ripper lands, and just a second later, a hole forms in the floor. The Heartless falls through it.

Sora, Riku, and I lean over the railing to see the Heartless tumbling through the air.

"That was easy," I remark.

There's a deafening explosion above our heads. The blimp's balloon is in flames. Red-hot flames lick hungrily at the material. We descend to the ground even faster now.

"Kida!" Milo exclaims. He runs over to where a hatchet is being kept behind a shield of glass with letters that read, _In Case Of Fire Break Glass. _He shatters the glass with a hard punch.

He then proceeds to climb down to the box holding Kida, crawling down the chains that are attaching her to the blimp. Using the hatchet to break through them, he manages to free the princess before he loses his grip and falls after her.

"Milo!" Sora calls out, but the blimp is so close to the ground now that Milo and boxed Kida go rolling down a tiny slope. Milo lands on his butt next to Kida.

"We have to jump!" Riku commands, and we leap over the railing. We roll down the slope, landing near Milo and Kida. I land on my back, panting.

I stare up in shock at the Chill Ripper standing near us. I thought Rourke was gone.

"I thought we got rid of this thing!" Sora shouts.

"Look out!" Milo cries out as the fiery remains of the blimp plummet towards us. Jumping to our feet, we help Milo give one big heave to the box carrying Kida, and we move out of the way ourselves. The Heartless marches after us, but it just places itself directly in the path of the burning blimp and gets incinerated.

Mole, Vinny, Audrey, Mr. Sweet, Cookie, and Ms. Packard fly over to us on their fish vehicles and land besides us. The ground starts rumbling and jagged cracks start forming in it.

Mole gasps, slapping his hands to his face in sheer terror. "The volcano…She awakes!"

Milo runs over to Kida's box and picks up a chain. "Come on, we have to get Kida back so we can reverse this or the whole city is going to die!" He wraps the chain around Kida's box to secure her and fastens the chain to one of the fish vehicles.

The ground shakes violently now and steam shoots up out of the cracks. We're going to be goners if we don't get out of here.

"Alright, let's move it!"

We propel back to the city as steaming lava rushes underneath us, chasing after us. Without a second to lose, we make a mad-dash back to Atlantis and land in the center of the city. Lava spurts out in terrific bursts from the volcano on the other side of where the bridge used to be.

"Milo! The wall's going to blow!" Mr. Sweet exclaims.

Milo uses an Atlantean's spear to pry open the door to Kida's box. She bursts forth, shining in radiant blue beauty as the walls to the box expand outward and away. The markings on the ground of the city start to glow blue. The light spreads across the whole city and up the buildings, until everything is lit up.

Then, the markings disappear and the ground shakes beneath our feet. The masks in the crystal chamber burst through the ground and rise into the air. Kida rises up with them.

Just like earlier, they spin around her faster and faster, until they become a blur, a sphere surrounding Kida. A beam of light fires from the masks and strikes a massive statue almost fully submerged in the water. Its dead gray eyes spark blue and it slowly climbs out of the water like it's alive.

More beams of light shoot out and strike other submerged statues. Everyone watches in muted awe as their dull eyes shine blue, and they too climb out of the water, slowly but steadily, lumbering to their feet. They're just like the mysterious figures we saw when we went to go look at the mural.

The figures trudge to the outskirts of the city where the waterfall dried up and spread out in a wide semicircle. Balls of fire rocket out of the volcano, hissing.

Each of the statues clap their hands together in a booming smack, and a blue light forms in between their hands as they outstretch their arms. The light grows until a force field shaped like a dome is formed around Atlantis.

The fireballs whistle towards the city, but with the protective shield up, they just bounce off harmlessly. The volcano explodes and sends forth its fiery fury. Lava gushes down and over the force field, and all I can see is dark orange and yellow where the sky should be.

The lava quickly hardens over us, but seconds later, markings of Atlantean writing appear on the hardened lava. Cracks start to form and light peeps through them. The hardened lava crumbles away into little pieces.

The waterfall returns and spews out its crystal-clear waters once more.

"Kairi! Riku!" Sora points a cladded finger up at the crystal in the sky. A large Keyhole has appeared over it.

"Is that…?"

Riku nods his head. "The Keyhole. I didn't think it'd actually be on the Heart of Atlantis itself…"

The silver-haired Keyblade wielder summons his Keyblade and aims at the Keyhole. Just like when Sora sealed the Keyhole in Montressor, the tip of his Keyblade shines a blue light and the outline of the Keyhole glows. When the Keyhole disappears, the crystal ascends above the clouds. Kida emerges from them, descending slowly to the ground. She is no longer blue, returning to her normal form.

Milo steps forward to catch her and she falls gently into his arms, perfectly still. She sighs, and her eyes flutter open. She looks around for a moment in confusion, and then her eyes meet Milo's.

"Milo…" She whispers softly. He smiles warmly at her and she throws her arms around him in a tight embrace.

xxxxx

And so, the city of Atlantis is no longer in danger, and the Atlanteans can rest in peace. The gigantic statues still stand at the edge of the city, overlooking the cascading waterfall as bodyguards.

Milo decides to stay behind with Kida to help her rebuild the city. He's the only one here who can read Atlantean, so he's the key to restoring Atlantis to its former glory. He wishes he brought along his toothbrush however.

A submarine-like fish vehicle is prepared for the return journey and the Atlanteans stock it up with plenty of gold, fit for a king. Kida gifts each of us with crystal necklaces of our own. I hold mine between my fingers, fascinated by its splendor.

Everyone says their goodbyes to Milo. Vinny tells him he's going to reopen his flower shop and think of Milo and the Atlanteans every single day.

"Good luck with the adventures, you guys," Milo smiles kindly at Sora, Riku and I. It's upsetting knowing that we may never see him again, but I guess that will only make us cherish the memories we had together even more.

"Come on, y'all! Let's get one picture in front of the fish," Mr. Sweet says.

We all stand together as a group, putting on our best smiles for the camera. It's been a long journey, and I'm a bit sorry to see it end. It's been fun traveling with these guys. I'm really going to miss them. I hope to remember this moment forever.

xxxxx

The fish vehicle takes us up to the surface like Milo hoped it would. We make for the nearest port, which just so happens to be the one we departed on for our journey to Atlantis. The Gummi ship is still there, floating secretly by the pier.

This is where Sora, Riku, and I part ways with the others. We get a share of the gold, but we can only store what our pockets can hold. It's more than enough though.

Sora starts up the Gummi ship once we're inside and we climb into the air once Chip and Dale clear us for takeoff.

_That's two worlds done now, I think to myself as we soar through space. Where will we go next?_

xxxxx


	15. Let The Games Begin

ElvenPrincess01: Ok Sora, I hope you're back to your normal self after that stunt you pulled at the beginning of the last chapter.

Sora: I just here so I don't get fined.

ElvenPrincess01:….

Sora: Kidding! I'm just kidding! Please don't cut my pay.

ElvenPrincess01: Moving along, I know it's only been a little over a couple weeks since I've updated—

Kairi: 17 days to be exact.

ElvenPrincess01: Yes, thank you, Kairi. I know it's been 17 days since I've updated, but I've gotten into the recent habit of updating quicker than that. You see, the world Team SRK are going to in the chapter you're about to read was _really_ supposed to follow immediately after another world. I had a really good idea for a scene that would occur in the world I cut out, but, I don't know, I just wasn't feeling it. I just couldn't bring myself to drop Team SRK into the world and write up the saga. I'm thinking about adding another world in, but I don't know which one.

Kairi: I wouldn't worry about it. Your list of worlds looks fine to me.

ElvenPrincess01: I know, but…eh, maybe you're right. I'll just forget about it.

Sora: Maybe you should break the mold and do a non-Disney world.

ElvenPrincess01: What, like _Lord of the Rings_? Throw some hobbits in and—

Sora: What's a hobbit?

ElvenPrincess01: …

Kairi: …

ElvenPrincess01: *sighs* There is no hope for you. Kairi?

Kairi: ElvenPrincess01 does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney or Final Fantasy. Please don't sue!

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter_

_The fish vehicle takes us up to the surface like Milo hoped it would. We make for the nearest port, which just so happens to be the one we departed on for our journey to Atlantis. The Gummi ship is still there, floating secretly by the pier._

_This is where Sora, Riku, and I part ways with the others. We get a share of the gold, but we can only store what our pockets can hold. It's more than enough though._

_Sora starts up the Gummi ship once we're inside and we climb into the air once Chip and Dale clear us for takeoff._

_That's two worlds done now, I think to myself as we soar through space. Where will we go next?_

**Chapter 15: Let The Games Begin**

After a while of flying through the vastness of space, searching for a new world to land on, a beeping noise goes off in the cockpit.

"Hey guys!" Chip's squeaky voice comes over the loudspeaker. It's nice to hear someone speaking over the loudspeaker with emotion unlike Mrs. Packard.

"Olympus Coliseum is just nearby! You should be coming to it soon."

"Awesome!" Sora grins. "I wonder if they rebuilt the Coliseum by now…"

"Let's drop by for a visit and say hello to Hercules and the others," Riku suggests. "Hades is probably up to no good anyways."

Chip and Dale give Sora precise directions for reaching Olympus Coliseum and we descend into the world.

The world looks…different than from what I imagined it to look. I don't see anything remotely resembling a Coliseum. We land in what appears to be a large cavern, but I can't see the ceiling at all. It's as dark as night. There's a purple river that fills the cavern, and varying sizes of rock structures emerge out of it.

"Is this supposed to be the Coliseum?"

"Oh, this isn't the Coliseum," Sora answers my question as we leave the Gummi. "This is the entrance to the Underworld." He points a finger up ahead. "The Coliseum's that way." I follow his finger to see a staircase leading to large double doors. Beyond the doors is a long, shining, and curvy pathway.

Coming down the staircase is an extremely muscular man with broad shoulders and rust-colored hair. He wears orange-brown armor that ends in a metal skirt and brown knee-high sandals on his feet. A dark blue cape flaps out behind him and he carries a sword at his side.

His face alights with recognition and delight when he lays eyes on us after he clears the staircase. A broad grin spreads across his chiseled face. "Sora! Riku! Kairi!" He holds up an arm in the air to greet us, then strides over.

"Hey Herc! What's up?" Sora greets.

Hercules sighs, crossing his beefy arms over his chest. I thought Riku had biceps, but he definitely takes the cake. He's practically bursting with muscle.

"I'm trying to find Meg. I can't seem to find her anywhere." His forehead creases with worry. "I hope she didn't try to talk to Hades again and ask him to give me a breather from the monsters he keeps sending my way..."

"Where'd you last see her?" Riku asks.

"She was in the Coliseum earlier today. But I suddenly couldn't find her after my last match. I don't know where she ran off to."

"We can help you look for her if you like," Sora offers.

"Really? That'd be great."

"Um," I pipe up, fidgeting on the spot. "Before we start our search, can you tell me where the bathrooms are?"

Hercules gives me directions to the Coliseum, which he informs us has been repaired. As soon as I step in sight of it, I momentarily forget about my need to use the restroom and I stand in awe.

Standing in front of its gates, I see two humongous statues of warriors clashing swords on either side of the large golden doors leading to the structure.

It's a majestic sight; however, my bladder reminds me that I need to take care of urgent business and I enter into the Coliseum, pushing open the ornate door.

Entering into the tiny lobby, I see the back of a short satyr standing atop a pedestal on the other side of the room. He's adjusting a banner on the wall.

When the door closes behind me, he slightly raises his head but doesn't look at me. "Oh good, you're back. Do me a favor and move that pedestal over for me." He points over his shoulder at another pedestal on the right side of the room.

"Uh, actually, I'm…kind of looking for the bathroom." I fidget again, resisting the urge to do a pee-pee dance.

The satyr freezes for a moment. "Wait a minute. I know that voice…" He mutters. He looks over his shoulder to see me.

"I don't believe it! It's Kairi!" He jumps off the pedestal. "If you and Sora and Riku came to compete in the Games, it's too bad, cause you missed them. Herc won of course."

I don't realize how short the satyr is until he leaps off the pedestal, but he's, well, short. He barely comes up over my knee.

His lower body has orange fur and hooves while his upper body is that of a man with a portly belly. Some hair covers his chest and arms. The top of his head is nearly bald, but he has a curly goatee and a five o'clock shadow stretching across most of his lower face.

Two goat horns stick out from his head and a thick unibrow connects his eyebrows. His dark eyes have a strict, no-nonsense look to them.

"We just came back to see if the Coliseum had been rebuilt. And to say hi. I lost my memories, so I'm afraid I don't know who you are."

"You lost your memories? How'd you manage that, sweetcakes?"

"Well I kind of bumped my head and I can't remember anything. I didn't even remember Sora or Riku, but they've been helping me fill in the blanks. I'm working to completely restore my memory." _Did he just call me sweetcakes?_

"Huh." Phil strokes his chin. "I see…Well since you don't remember me, name's Phil." He jumps back on the pedestal. "I'm the coordinator for the Games and I train old Herc. You see him?"

"Yeah, I just talked to him before I came here." My bladder is about to burst now. "Uh…the bathroom…?" I squirm on the spot, my legs wobbling.

Whoever designed the Coliseum didn't let up on the bathrooms. They looks amazing. They even have gold-colored tissue paper. Why'd that be necessary, I don't know, but aesthetics are important I suppose.

I'm leaving the Coliseum and heading back to where Sora and the others are when I hear a voice.

"Well well well…if it isn't the little cardinal…" The voice says in a sinister tone.

I whirl around but I don't see a thing. The place is empty. There's no one but me. The voice doesn't sound like anyone I know, which only serves to freak me out more.

"Hey. Behind you." The voice is right behind me and I instantly turn around to see a tall figure in a black toga.

He has blue skin and flaming blue hair. There's a glint of mischievous intent in his yellow eyes, and his black mouth full of sharp teeth twists up a little at one side. His face is long and thin, with his jaw projecting out abruptly, and his fingers are long and clawed.

"Uh…"I cock my head, not sure how to take this guy in. "Do I…know you?"

He rolls his eyes. "Oh, that's cute, _real_ cute. You want to play games with me. Listen here, honey: I'm the Lord of the Dead. No one plays games better than me."

I blink at him. "No seriously…who are you?"

The Lord of the Dead laughs for a few seconds, then and narrows his eyes at me.

"Ha ha ha, kid," he deadpans. "You're funny. But the joke's over. You can stop now."

I study his face, attempting to remember any blue-skinned individuals. But my memory banks were wiped clean, and I don't remember anything about the guy standing in front of me.

"Wait a sec." I snap my fingers. "I think I heard the others mention you. Let's see..."

"Started with an H...Lord of the Dead, right? Hmm...Helios? No, that's the sun god...Hermes? No, that's not right either...Hector? No, he's not even a god..."

The Lord of the Dead is fuming now. "It's Hades!" He roars. His flaming blue hair changes into furious red flames and his face turns red, causing me to take an automatic step back. "Hades! Are you _trying_ to irk me?!"

"Sorry, but I said I don't remember anything."

"Riiiiiiight. And you expect me to believe that because...?"

"I'm telling the truth. I bumped my head and I can't remember anything. I'm not trying to be funny."

"Oi! So you really _don't_ remember anything?" Hades peers at me closely.

"Nope."

"Well, that's a shame," he shakes his head. "You know, if you—"

"Hades!" We both turn to see Hercules sprinting towards us with Sora and Riku behind him.

"What are you up to?" He glares up at the god.

"What makes you think I'm up to anything?" Hades feigns innocence. "Here I am trying to talk to an old friend and you think I'm up to something." He sighs, shaking his head. "Seriously, you just can't catch a break around here."

"Cut it out! What did you do to Meg?"

"Meg?" Hades looks genuinely confused, though that could just be an act. "And just what makes you think I have your precious girlfriend?"

"She disappeared recently. I know you had something to do with it."

Hades gazes off into the distance. "What did I just say? You just can't catch a break."

His eyes flicker back to Hercules's. "I didn't kidnap your little girlfriend."

Hercules is thrown for a loop. I guess he expected Hades to be behind Meg's disappearance. "Then...where is she?"

Hades shrugs. "How should I know? Really, you ought to keep an eye on that girl."

He notices Sora and Riku for the first time. "Oh, I see the cardinal brought her two lovely friends along. I hope you guys aren't thinking of playing that memory game on me."

Riku gets straight to the point. "What are you doing here, Hades?"

Hades grins. "I'm so glad you asked that question. As the Lord of the Dead, I personally dropped by to invite you to a wonderful tournament to be held in the Underdrome. A tournament hosted by yours truly. A tournament that will determine who is the greatest! A tournament that will determine who really is the best! A tournament that will decide who is the supreme hero!"

Raising his hands in the air, he exclaims, "The Hadeeeesss Flaaaaaame Cuuuuuuuuup!"

"You're doing another Cup?" Sora asks.

"That's right, Spiky! And this one is going to be even better than the last. It's going to have thrills, danger..." He chuckles, staring at Hercules. "The _great_ Hercules..."

The warrior glowers at him. "And what if I don't want to enter?"

Hades pretends to examine his fingernails. "Well that's your decision. But..." He looks up, malevolence burning in his eyes. "You'll never see Meg again."

The shock could not be more evident on Hercules's face. "You _do_ have Meg!"

"Maybe I do, and maybe I don't...Ok, fine you got me, I do." He smirks. He seems to be enjoying the reactions he's getting from Hercules.

"Enter the tournament, and your _precious_ little Meg will be returned to you. Oh, and try any funny business, like entering the Underworld and trying to look for her...and you'll never see her again. I hope to see you three enter as well."

He gives us one last evil grin before he disappears, leaving behind a thick cloud of black smoke.

"Lowlife!" Sora spits.

Hades chuckles. "You're too kind, kid."

Hercules lets out a sigh, his shoulders deflating.

"Well what do we do now?" Riku wonders out loud.

Hercules sighs again. He's got a lot on his shoulders. "We'll have to enter the tournament. There's no way I can leave Meg down there. And I can't risk searching for her and jeopardizing her survival."

"We could go look for her," Sora suggests.

But Hercules refuses, shaking his head. "No, that would still be too dangerous. I don't want to drag you guys in as well. If Hades wants to see me in the tournament, then he'll see me in the tournament."

"Are you sure?"

Hercules nods. "Positive. Besides, I never lost a tournament. Can't start now."

"You lost to us."

"Point taken."

xxxxx

"So what's the deal with Hades?" I ask Riku after we finish signing up with Hades' henchmen Pain and Panic, two short demonic imps.

"Hades has been a thorn in Herc's side from Day 1. He's constantly sending monsters to the Coliseum to defeat him, but Herc always comes out on top. He forced Herc into the Hades Cup before, and forced Auron to compete in the cup as well and try to force him to finish Herc off in the finals."

"Who's Auron?"

"He's a friend of ours who helped us defeat Hades once. He's a pretty impressive warrior."

"Wow...sounds like a pretty cool guy."

"He is...I wonder what happened to him...he just disappeared..."

True to his word, one of Hades' very few positive attributes, Meg is released to us once Herc signs up.

She has thick brown hair tied up in a ponytail, with just a hint of violet in it, which matches her violet eyes. A long, pink strapless dress with two purple sashes on it accentuates her slim figure. With a heart-shaped face, a thin waist, and wide hips, she's got a face and body that would make many women jealous.

I can tell Hercules really loves this woman, since he nearly runs to her when he sees her.

"Meg! Are you ok?" He asks in a frantic voice.

She nods to reassure him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Though I can't say I enjoyed being kidnapped however."

"What happened?"

"Hades kidnapped me during your match against the Ice Titan. It was so quick, I couldn't do anything." She crosses her arms over her chest. "He kept me in his chamber the entire time. But I'm ok now. We should focus more on what Hades is planning for you in his tournament."

"Don't worry. I can handle whatever Hades throws at me. And Sora, Riku and Kairi are going to be keeping an eye on things as well."

"You can count on us!" Sora says.

Meg smiles at us. "Well then, I'm counting on you guys. Don't let me down."

xxxxx

The Hades Flame Cup was the next day, so we had a chance to rest up before the big day. Hercules wasn't sweating it much, but Phil still put him through some training, and made sure he got plenty of sleep.

"Remember, victory in the games comes down to two simple words." He said. "Eat. Bathe. Sleep." Phil doesn't seem to realize that he said three words instead of two.

Hades put up a bulletin board in the entrance to the Underworld which shows all of the participating teams and what brackets they're in. Sora, Riku and I are in the first match, starting things off.

Our opponents are on a team called the Ghosts and Bats team. Sora says that most of the teams in Hades' last Cup were Heartless, so this doesn't come as a surprise to him. How Heartless were able to enter these competitions, I don't know. But they just seem like fodder to be eliminated so we can get to the real match, the finals, which Hades can't wait for Hercules to be in.

Glancing over the other participants, I see a name enclosed in one of the brackets that sticks out to me.

"Vaan…That doesn't sound like a Heartless team name to me."

"Must be a regular guy," Sora guesses. "Weird though. Why would someone be voluntarily entering into one of Hades' cups?"

As Hades had said before in his overly dramatic speech the day prior, the Hades Flame Cup is to be held at the Underdrome. The Underdrome is on the other side of the River Styx, opposite from the Olympus Coliseum. The only way of getting there is by boat, courtesy of Pain and Panic.

Hades is up on the balcony, perched on a throne that overlooks the dreary-looking arena. Apart from him, there's no one here. This whole tournament is just purely for his entertainment.

From the glint in his eyes, I can tell he's scheming something. Whatever he's cooking, he's going to make sure we don't get far in the competition. These Heartless we're fighting could just be a means of tiring us out.

The Heartless on the Ghost and Bats Team are a combination of Trick Ghosts and Hook Bats, totaling no more than seven. They're not strong, but they keep flying around and evading our attacks, which makes it a little hard to land attacks on them.

Even so, the three of us make quick work of them, and we advance into the next round.

Hades claps his hands, leering at us from his throne as we walk off the ring. "Well done, kiddos. You made it to the next round. But you won't get very far. You wanna know why?" He doesn't wait for us to reply. "Oh Va-_an_!" He sings.

A guy in his mid-teens slowly walks onto the field. He has blonde hair and gray eyes, and wears a loose cropped open metal vest secured with a pendant over his chest. His dark pants are held up by a sash belt of red ribbon and are tucked into a pair of knee-high steel boots. On his hands are metal-looking gloves and there are metal gauntlets encircling his wrists.

But his shiny attire isn't the only thing I notice about him. He's got a grim look on his face, and the way he shuffles onto the field, I get the impression that he can't be a willing participant in these Games.

He flashes the three of us a brief look, but his eyes give nothing away. They're unreadable, almost dead.

The newcomer's opponents are Magic Phantoms and Befuddles, a step up from the Heartless we just fought.

Immediately once the match starts, I am nearly blown away by the guy's skills. Without wasting a second, he rushes at his enemies dauntlessly and slices through them like butter with his sword. He has incredible strength, and his speed...He's fast, no doubt about it. He may even be faster than Sora. The way he pulls off aerial maneuvers and flits across the floor, he appears completely at ease.

Just like us, he makes quick work of the Heartless, and immediately leaves the arena the way he came.

So that's what Hades is up to. He wants this Vaan guy to be the one to take Hercules out. But before he can do that, he needs to take us out. No wonder Hades wanted us to enter the tourney. He thinks Vaan can beat us.

And he may not be wrong.

xxxxx

"Say Meg, when you were in the Underworld, did you happen to see a guy named Vaan?" I ask the brunette when we return to the Coliseum. We're lounging around in the lobby. "Blonde hair, gray eyes, carries a sword?"

"Vaan?" Meg thinks about it for a second. "Oh, you mean that kid with the metal fetus? What about him?"

"What do you know about him?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Nothing much. He was in here a few days ago trying to obtain an entry pass to the tournament we had recently, but Phil refused to give him one, saying that he wasn't a true hero."

Sora shakes his head. "Just like Phil…"

Riku throws me a sideways glance. "Why are you so interested in him?"

"I don't know what, but there's something up with him. I mean, didn't you see the way he shuffled reluctantly onto the field with a dead expression in his eyes? It doesn't exactly scream 'I really want to be here.'"

"Maybe he's always like that," Sora reasons.

"Or maybe he's being forced to fight. Call it female intuition, but there's something going on behind the scenes."

"Yeah, but how are we going to figure that out? It's not like we can go down to the Underworld and ask Hades ourselves."

I cross my legs as I sit back on the bench, deep in thought for a few moments. I get an idea.

"Or..." I smile slowly. "Maybe we can."

Riku looks at me suspiciously. "What are you thinking?"

"Yesterday, I told Hades I lost my memories. What if I infiltrate his lair and pretend to join his side so he'll help me find a way to restore my memories? I'll be able to find out if he's using Vaan for some wicked plot he's cooking up and work on freeing him from Hades' grasp."

Riku is stupefied, which I expected him to be. It's a bold plan. "Are you serious? You want to infiltrate his domain and be a double agent?"

"We don't have a lot of options at the moment. It's like Sora said, we can't just go up to Hades and ask him ourselves."

"Still. It's a risky move. You shouldn't be going by yourself."

"No way. It'll be too obvious if we all go. He'll know something's up just by seeing us."

"Then instead of Riku and me going with you necessarily," Sora says, "how about we just hang around the Underworld while you talk to Hades?"

"And have him see you? It'll ruin the plan. This has to be a solo mission."

Riku lets out a long sigh. "I don't know, Kairi. What if Hades doesn't bite? He may be a villain, but he's not dumb. He's not Pete, you know.

"I know that, but..." Convincing the others is harder than I thought it would be. "We should at least try...right?"

There's a skeptical expression on Riku's face as he ponders over my words.

"Regardless of what you think, I'm still going to do it anyways," I say resolutely.

Riku exhales, giving me a look. "You always have to be so stubborn..." There's a slight hint of amusement hidden in his eyes. I think it's safe to say I've won him over.

"Alright, fine. Since I, nor Sora, can convince you to do otherwise, you can go ahead with your plan. But for all of our sakes, please be careful."

Hercules gives me the Olympus Stone before I go. It has the ability to protect people from the weakening curse that the Underworld inflicts, so it's ideal for me to bring it along in case things go sour and I need to defend myself.

Riku advises me not to let my guard down since Heartless show up in the Underworld. Getting through the Underworld is a task in itself. It's massive. Heartless keep cropping out at nearly every turn. I've seen so many Trick Ghosts and Hook Bats that I start wishing Hades' Chamber was built a little closer to the Underworld entrance.

I meander through the endless winding passageways of the caves before I come to a crevice so big that a Large Body could fit through. When I come out on the other side, I see a cliff encircling the area with a long stone bridge laid out before me, leading to a set of doors at the other end.

_That must be where Hades' Chamber is. _Reaching the double doors, I stand just out of sight of the staircase so that one can see me if they're standing at the top of them. I take a deep breath. _Here goes nothing._

Hades' is poised casually on his throne. Pain and Panic stand side-by-side next to him. Vaan is nowhere to be seen.

Hades leers at me. "Well, it seems that the little cardinal decided to pay us a visit. What can I do for you?" He leans forward and props a fist under his chin as he waits in a pose of expectation. "If you came to drop out of the competition, you can't. Once you enter, there's no going back."

Here it goes. "I didn't come to drop out. I came to switch teams. I want to join yours."

I can tell I've thrown Hades for a loop. "You...want to work for me?" For the first time ever, Hades is astonished, and drops the dramatic flair he usually speaks with.

"You heard me. I heard you give out rewards for those who work for you. And I want my memories back. You're a god, so I know you can do it. I'm willing to do whatever it takes. No matter the cost." I hope that sounds as convincing as I think it does.

Hades gets out of his chair and slowly approaches me, dubious.

"And why exactly do you want to join me all of a sudden? What, Blunder Boy and your Keyblade buddies aren't good enough for you anymore?"

"They can't get me what I want. But you can."

Hades studies my face. I'm trying not to give too much away with my facial expressions and look as unemotional as I possibly can, but I have a growing feeling that Hades can see right through my facade.

"So you could finish Hercules off is what you're saying? And you'd do it just to get your memories back?"

I bite my lip. "Well...yeah..." I lie. I probably should have said that with more boldness.

Hades doesn't say anything for a moment. Then he throws his head back, cackling wildly like he's heard a really funny joke. He laughs raucously all the way back to his seat, still laughing a few moments after he sits in it. His laughs subside to small chuckles, until he completely stops. His face has a broad grin on it, exposing rows of wickedly jagged teeth.

"You're funny, kid. Really you are. You've been on a roll lately. Did you really think that was going to work?"

I'm instantly alerted to the fact that he's on to me, but I play dumb. "What was going to work?"

"I'm Hades, the Lord of the Dead. I know when someone's trying to pull a fast one on me. I know what you're up to. You want to infiltrate my lair on the charade of wanting to work for me so you can get intel for the others."

My jaw drops involuntarily at being snuffed out so quickly.

"Am I right?"

"How'd...how'd you know?"

Hades chuckles. "How'd I know? Well that's simple." He sits back in his throne. "You're a Princess of Heart. It's not in your blood, or should I say, your _heart_, to betray anyone. You're too good for that."

Shoot. I had totally forgotten about that.

"I appreciate the job application. But unfortunately, the position has already been filled." He grins wickedly at me. "Thanks for applying though."

Upset that my plan failed, and miserably, I blurt, "Why are you forcing Vaan to work for you and take out Hercules?"

"_Forcing_ him? You make it seem like I'm blackmailing him. That's such an ugly word. I just gave him some options and outcomes for each of the options. He had the choice to back out. I never forced him to do anything. Honestly, what kind of person do you think I am?"

"What are you holding over him?"

Hades strokes his chin slowly, peering at me. He taps the fingers of his other hand against the throne's armrest. "Oh, I see now. I thought you were in here trying to gain intel on Vaan to take back to ol' Herc so he'd be more prepared in their matchup. But you were trying to free him. Too bad, honey, but he belongs to me. And there's nothing you can do about it."

"But—"

"This conversation is over." Hades holds up a hand to silence me. "And since it appears to me that you're so eager to fight..." He taps a finger to his chin. "I think I'll eliminate a few of the Heartless teams and have you fight Vaan after your next match."

Now I've been thrown for a loop. "But you said once teams were entered, they couldn't drop out!"

"Yes, I said they couldn't _drop _out. I never said they couldn't be _kicked_ out!" He laughs as I glower at him.

"Now run along, dearie." He waggles his fingers at me. "I have things to do. Oh, and good luck in your next match. And the one after it. You'll need it."

xxxxx

Sora: You know what's funny, ElvenPrincess01?

ElvenPrincess01: What?

Sora: You included Vaan into your story, but you never played Final Fantasy 12.

ElvenPrincess01: You don't have to play a game to appreciate a character in the game. I've never played any of the Final Fantasy games, though I very much like too, and Cloud is one of my favorite video game characters. And one of the hottest.

Sora: Where I am on your list?

ElvenPrincess01: You're up there. But you don't rank above Cloud.

Sora: What? What does he have that I don't?

ElvenPrincess01: Let's see…He's cool, calm and collected…

Sora: I'm cool, calm and collected.

ElvenPrincess01: Sora, you couldn't be cool, calm and collected even if you wanted to.

Sora: Wait a minute…Cool, calm and collected…Does this mean Riku's on your list too?

ElvenPrincess01: Yeah, he's on there.

Sora: And where does he rank? He's not above me, is he?

ElvenPrincess01: Nah. You guys are tied.

Sora: Tied?! I should be above him!

ElvenPrincess01: This isn't a competition you know. Be glad you're even on the list.

Sora: Fine…So since Vaan is here, does that mean—

ElvenPrincess01: Don't spoil it for the readers!

Sora: I just wanted to know if a certain someone was going to appear in the story.

ElvenPrincess01: We can discuss that later. Don't jump the beans.

Sora: Don't jump the what?

ElvenPrincess01: I…may have said that wrong…Anyways, thanks for reading! The next chapter will be up soon! Mainly because I already finished it. I just need to go back and do some editing!

Sora: See you in the next chapter!

xxxxx


	16. Protect The Ones You Love

Sora: You know ElvenPrincess01, I'm not feeling the name of Hades' cup.

ElvenPrincess01: What's wrong with it? I mean I know it wasn't the best, but…

Sora: I don't know, it's just, the Hades Flame Cup! Doesn't exactly strike fear into the participants.

ElvenPrincess01: Hades isn't really trying to intimidate anyone. He just wants Hercules out of the picture. And what name would you have chosen?

Sora: Perhaps…the Hades' Terror and Doom Cup! Or the Hades' Arena of Agony Cup! Or maybe the Hades' Legendary Immortals Cup!

ElvenPrincess01: Not bad, but I think you're overdoing it a little. The Phil Cup. The Pegasus Cup. The Pain and Panic Cup. There's no need for extravagant names. Besides I wasn't too concerned about the name of the cup. The events of the actual cup is more important.

Sora: I know, I know, just saying.

ElvenPrincess01: Let's move on, shall we? Could you be a dear and do the disclaimer?

Sora: Do we really need to do the disclaimer for every chapter? I mean, isn't it enough if we do it every once in a while or something?

ElvenPrincess01: And what if someone were to click on this chapter and not see a disclaimer? I could get sued.

Sora: If they looked at the other chapters, they would see there was a disclaimer.

ElvenPrincess01: Maybe, but sometimes people don't check these things. They jump to conclusions. And if I get sued, you're out of a job.

Sora: ElvenPrincess01 is not the owner of Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney. Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy are owned by Square Enix and Disney is owned by The Walt Disney Company. Please don't enact a lawsuit against her.

ElvenPrincess01: Couldn't have said it better myself, Sora. And nice wording by the way.

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter_

_Upset that my plan failed, and miserably, I blurt, "Why are you forcing Vaan to work for you and take out Hercules?"_

_"Forcing him? You make it seem like I'm blackmailing him. That's such an ugly word. I just gave him some options and outcomes for each of the options. He had the choice to back out. I never forced him to do anything. Honestly, what kind of person do you think I am?"_

_"What are you holding over him?"_

_Hades strokes his chin slowly, peering at me. He taps the fingers of his other hand against the throne's armrest. "Oh, I see now. I thought you were in here trying to gain intel on Vaan to take back to ol' Herc so he'd be more prepared in their matchup. But you were trying to free him. Too bad, honey, but he belongs to me. And there's nothing you can do about it."_

_"But—"_

_"This conversation is over." Hades holds up a hand to silence me. "And since it appears to me that you're so eager to fight..." He taps a finger to his chin. "I think I'll eliminate a few of the Heartless teams and have you fight Vaan after your next match."_

_Now I've been thrown for a loop. "But you said once teams were entered, they couldn't drop out!"_

_"Yes, I said they couldn't drop out. I never said they couldn't be kicked out!" He laughs as I glower at him._

_"Now run along, dearie." He waggles his fingers at me. "I have things to do. Oh, and good luck in your next match. And the one after it. You'll need it."_

**Chapter 16: Protect The Ones You Love**

"So he didn't buy it." Riku isn't taken by surprise at the news. He expected the worse. "I had a feeling he wouldn't."

"Yeah…" I lean over and prop my elbows up on my thighs, resting my face in my hands. "And thanks to Hades cutting out most of the Heartless teams, we're going to have fight Vaan after our next match. Now we have less time to discover what Hades is blackmailing Vaan with and turn the tide against him."

"Maybe we won't have to worry about that," Sora argues. "Herc's one of the strongest guys we know. I'm sure he could defeat Vaan. For all we know, Vaan could be like Auron and hesitate at the last moment instead of finishing Herc off."

"That _could_ happen. But on the other hand, what if this…_thing _Hades is holding over Vaan so great that Vaan has no choice but to take Herc out?"

No one has an answer for that, which bums me out even more. I inwardly sigh as I sit back up. I can feel a headache creeping up my temple, and it's not related to my memories.

"This is becoming more troubling than I thought, "I murmur. I really thought I could convince Hades to join his team. But now that I think about, I realize that would have been a long shot. Hades would have to be stupid to believe I would just jump sides like that, considering how unlikely it was that I would just leave Sora and Riku behind and take out Hercules. He knew how close we were and that my memories would contain the three of them, so there would be no point in "betraying" them in an attempt to retrieve the lost memories.

"We still have time before we have to face Vaan in the semi-finals," Riku says. "We'll be able to think of something by then." He removes himself from the wall. "Right now, we have a match to go to."

Yet again, the three of us are back in the Underdrome. We're facing the last of the Heartless teams that Hades didn't eliminate, a few Gargoyle Knights.

These guys are immune to magic, and even though they're slow, they become dangerous when they swoop down from the air, blade-first.

My sword clangs against the sword of one of them as we trade quick blows with one another. The Gargoyle Knight levels sharp strikes at me that will definitely nick me if I'm not careful enough.

It attempts a thrusting move at me, but an aerial flip and a spin puts me out harm's way, and also puts me behind the Heartless. I drop down to one knee and slash my Keyblade horizontally through its back, destroying it.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Hades claps his large hands after he witnesses our victory. "You three just moved into the semi-finals. And that match…starts now."

We start to protest. "But we just—"

"Uh-uh-uh," Hades says as he wags a finger at us like he's scolding us. "Remember, anything can happen in the Games. Don't tell me you guys are exhausted after _that_. Isn't being in shape a part of the hero description?" He asks in a mocking voice.

That's the least of our worries.

"What do we do now?" Sora's eyes are on Vaan as he proceeds out onto the stage.

"We're going to have to throw the match," Riku says.

"What?"

"Hades clearly wants Vaan to win the match so he can proceed straight to the finals and go against Herc. So even if we do win, he'll probably make up another rule change and start the match over and make sure Vaan wins." I can see where Riku is going with this.

"If we just let Vaan beat us now, it'll still give us time to figure out a plan. We may be able figure out something before his match with Herc. So with that in mind, we'll lose the match on purpose. Try not to make it look so obvious though. Let's at least _attempt_ to make it seem like we want to win.

"Got it," Sora and I affirm.

We spread out from each other, almost forming a semicircle. Vaan's eyes sweep across us as we move into our positions.

"Ready? Fight!" Hades' voice booms down to us.

No sooner has the word "fight" left Hades' lips than does Vaan sprint forward at Riku, who's in the center. He's quick, but Riku brings his Keyblade up just in time to block a blow. It's a test of strength now as both guys push against each other's weapons, neither one of them wanting to let up.

Sora and I lock eyes with each other and nod our heads before running at Vaan. The blonde sees us coming and casts us each a glance before he jumps back several feet before either of us can reach him.

We move back into a line with Riku while Vaan drops into another battle stance, his eyes hard as he sweeps his eyes across us once more. It's three against one, so he's trying to prepare for anything.

After he's regarded us enough times to satisfy himself, he darts forward at us, taking the initiative of attack once more.

He takes on all three of us at one, switching opponents seamlessly as he almost glides across the floor, swinging his sword back and forth.

I have to remind myself that we're supposed to be throwing this match in his favor and I can't go all out on him. As fast as Vaan is, it's still three vs. one, and there are opportunities to attack him while he's not focused on me that I'm forced to hold back from cashing in on.

Sora and Riku are holding back too from what I can tell. Their movements appear slower than what they usually are, and their strikes are somewhat lacking in strength. Vaan seems to think this is the extent of our abilities as his strikes eventually become quicker and more assuredly. He senses an imminent victory.

However, I can tell he doesn't want to hurt us. He's reluctant to go for any fatal or decisive blows, even though we're almost giving him room to do so. Even more proof that Hades is coercing him into his tournament.

He and I lock blades and Riku comes in from the right, attempting a sneak attack. Vaan sees it and responds with a swift kick to Riku's solar plexus, sending him crumpling to the ground. I didn't think Vaan hit him _that_ hard, but I suspect Riku to be exaggerating.

I pretend to be in shock at what just happened and Vaan takes advantage of the distraction, sweeping my feet from out under me.

He goes on to attack Sora, forcing him to hold up his Keyblade as a shield. Vaan hammers blow after blow until one of Sora's knees gives way and Vaan strikes Kingdom Key out of Sora's hands, sending it clattering several yards away. Vaan points the tip of his sword at Sora's neck.

Hades is on the edge of his seat. "Finish them! Finish them!" He can barely control his excitement.

Vaan refuses though and withdraws his sword. He holds it over his back.

Hades scowls. "I said to finish them."

"I've already won," Vaan says in a dead voice. "There's no need for that."

Hades sighs. "Good help is so hard to find," he mutters to himself. "Alright, fine, you advance to the finals. Good work, kid," he grins. Everything is going as planned for him.

As Vaan leaves the arena floor, Riku and I get to our feet. Sora stands up and holds out an arm towards his Keyblade. A couple moments later, it disappears from where it laid on the floor and reappears in Sora's hand.

"Ok, so we've been eliminated. Now what?"

Riku's blue-green eyes are trained on Vaan's back. "Now, it's time to do some spying."

xxxxx

Sora, Riku, and I creep behind Vaan as he ambles through the Underworld, presumably heading back to Hades' Chamber. We don't tail too closely behind him to alert him to our presence, keeping up just enough where we can keep him in eyesight.

Hades doesn't wait for Vaan to show in his chamber, and he teleports into one of the caves. The second we see a flash of fire and smoke in front of Vaan, we instantly hide behind a corner. We poke our heads around it, hardly daring to even breathe.

From our position, all I see of Vaan is his back, but I can clearly see Hades' much displeased face.

The blue-haired god stares down hard at the blonde warrior. "I thought I told you to finish them off. I wanted those Keyblading brats out of the picture." He fights to keep his voice even.

"Wasn't in my contract," Vaan responds in the same dead voice from earlier.

"That may be so." Hades paces a few steps to the right. "But finishing off Blunder Boy is. So try not to get cold feet before then. Kapish?"

Vaan shifts uncomfortably. "Do I…really have to finish Hercules off?"

"It's in your contract, isn't it? You wouldn't want something to...happen to little Penelo, would you?"

Vaan quickly becomes steamed. Anger burns in his voice. "If you touch her—"

"Relax, I won't, I won't." Hades holds his arms up in the air. "I keep telling you, I get a bad rep. Just as long as you keep up your end of the bargain, I'll keep mine. Take out Herc, and _lovely_ Penelo will be returned to you." Hades claps his hands together in a mock show of delight when he says "lovely." His face instantly hardens after that. "Don't, and you'll _never_ see her again. Do you understand?"

Vaan slowly lowers his head towards the ground, conceding in defeat. "…I understand," he says quietly.

xxxxx

"So _that's_ how Vaan is being blackmailed into fighting Hercules in the tournament. Hades is holding someone close to him hostage!" Finally, the mystery's solved.

"It's just like with Auron," Sora says. "Only this time it's not through a statue."

Hercules sighs, rubbing his jaw. He's been training with Phil for his upcoming match against Vaan. "I swear, Hades just loves kidnapping people and keeping them captive. We need to find that girl."

"Yeah, but we can't do it with Hades in the Underworld," I say. "He'll see us coming."

"Did you forget how we freed Auron?" At my blank look, Hercules answers his own question. "Oh right, you did."

"During Herc's match against Auron, we snuck into the Underworld to retrieve the statue Hades was using to control Auron," Riku explains. "Hades was watching the match in the Underdrome so it was pretty easy to sneak into his lair and retrieve it."

"Think it'll be that easy this time around?"

"It's definitely worth a try. I don't want to imagine what Hades will do to that girl if Vaan doesn't come through for him."

"_Don't, and you'll never see her again." _Those weren't exactly comforting words Hades said earlier.

"Then I'll try and buy you guys enough time in the match for you to find the girl and get out of there," Hercules says. "Hades may not know that you guys are aware of the circumstances of the deal he has with Vaan, but that doesn't mean he won't cover his bases and have something up his sleeve to make sure this Penelo girl isn't rescued."

He crosses his brawny arms over his chest, every dose of seriousness on his face. "He fell for the sneaking into the Underworld trick once; he may not fall for it again. Be careful."

We watch him sail off in the boat over the River Styx to the Underdrome. Pain and Panic jump up and down in joy. They're very excited about the finals.

"You guys are going back into the Underworld?"

Turning around, we see Meg with her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, we are. We have to find that Penelo girl before it's too late."

"Don't let your guard down," she warns, and takes a moment to stare at the entrance to the Underworld. "The Underworld can be a dangerous place. Hades may have something planned." All this talk about being careful and avoiding danger was making me a little more nervous than I probably ought to be.

On alert, we carefully tread through the dreary Underworld, cautiously scanning for any threats. The only threat there is though are the Heartless, which really aren't much of a threat at all since they go down pretty easily.

"Where did Hades keep Auron's statue?" I ask as we move further into Hades' domain.

"He kept it on the table in his chamber," Sora responds.

I frown a little. "Then he can't be keeping Penelo there. I went in there when I talked to him about joining his team and she wasn't in there." My shoulders deflate slightly. "If I had known he was keeping her down here, I would have looked around for her."

"Hades would have saw you if you did that. The Underworld isn't that big. She's got to be around here somewhere." Riku's eyes scan the area.

"Yeah, but where—" I break off, coming to a stop. "Do you guys hear that?"

We're walking over the stone pathway that leads to Hades' Chamber when I hear the faint sounds of dogs snarling from up ahead.

"I hear it," Riku frowns. "Sounds like…"

We carefully tiptoe to the entrance to the chamber and glance up the steps that lead to the room. Just inside is Cerberus, Hades' massive three-headed dog, guarding the room.

"Well…This complicates things…"

"Hades _did_ plan on us rescuing Penelo." I can't help but scowl. "I guess he learned his mistake after what happened with Auron."

Cerberus lets out another snarl, his immense paws pacing a few steps back and forth. He can probably can sniff us nearby.

Sora squints into the room. "But…I don't see the girl. Where is she?"

I move my head back and forth before groaning in frustration. "I don't know. I can't really see with Cerberus in the way." I could probably get a better look if I moved in closer, but I really don't want to risk being seen by a monstrous beast that could tear me to pieces.

Cerberus paces a few more steps, out of the way now, and I can see her. There's a blonde girl with pigtails sitting inside a cage next to Hades' throne. Her knees are tucked into her chest and her arms are around them. Her head rests on her kneecaps.

"There she is!" I whisper excitedly. Cerberus moves back into his original spot.

"But then where was Hades hiding her before? She definitely wasn't there the last time I was here."

"Maybe Hades heard you coming and moved her."

Sora judges the distance between us and the girl. "How do we get to her?"

"Hmm…" Our silver-haired friend is cooking up a plan. "Sora, you and I run interference. Kairi, you go and free her."

"Got it." Sora is just unfaltering as Riku, his bright eyes determined.

I'm the only one unconvinced by this plan. "W-What? Are you guys serious?"

"What's the matter?"

"You can't run interference with that thing. It's a giant man-eating dog. It'll rip you to shreds!"

Sora attempts to assuage my fears with a smile. "Relax, Kairi. Cerberus may not look like it, but he's actually not that tough. Riku and I will have it all under control. You just focus on getting Penelo out of there, ok?"

I hesitate for a moment, but Sora's eyes persuade me to agree. It's not like we have another choice. We have to get inside that room, one way or another.

"Ok, fine. I'll try to be quick as I can."

"Good."

"Sora and I are going to go in first and get Cerberus' attention," Riku says. "Once the coast is clear, you run in, release the girl, and get the heck out of here. We'll be right behind you."

"Roger."

Sora and Riku share a look between each other, then slowly tread up the stairs, next to each other. Somehow, the guard dog doesn't notice them until their feet are placed inside Hades' Chamber.

At the sight of them, he bends low to the ground and barks angrily at them, startling me with his ferocity.

Sora darts to the left. "He-_ey_! Over here!"

Riku dashes in after him. "No, over here!"

A growling Cerberus pursues them, leaving his post and providing a clear path to the cage. From what I can guess, Sora and Riku are both on the left side of the room, spread apart away from each other.

Just as Cerberus focuses in on the clamor Sora is raising, he is distracted by Riku moments later. The cycle goes back and forth like that. Cerberus' jaws snap at them a few times, most likely at them, but he's not doing any real attacks. Now I see why Sora said he wasn't too tough.

With Cerberus out of the way, I scurry up the steps and into the Chamber as quickly and quietly as I can.

The girl inside the cage is staring in confusion at Sora and Riku, but when I near her prison, her eyes flicker to me. Shock replaces the confusion in her eyes.

"Are you ok?" I bend over in front of the cage.

She blinks at me. "Who…who are you?"

"I'm Kairi. I'm going to get you out of here." I stand back up, giving the cage an once-over. There's a keyhole on the front of the cage.

"Where are the keys?"

"Hades keeps them in his robe." I can tell from her voice she's still a bit stunned by my sudden appearance.

"Hey! I'm right here!" Sora's voice cuts through the air.

"What?" Frantically, I give the cage another once-over. I'm not strong enough to break the bars. And I don't have anything to pick the lock with. Not that I know how to do so anyway.

"Then how am I supposed to…?" The answer is so clear to me that I can't believe I didn't see it earlier. I slap a hand to my forehead, chiding myself.

I take out my Keyblade and point it directly at the lock. The Keyblade glows and a thin beam of light shoots out from the weapon and hits the lock. A second later, there's a small clicking noise as the cage door is unlocked.

Penelo has an amazed expression on her face and I beam at her. "Success."

I pull open the cage door, jumping as it creaks noisily. I wince automatically as my eyes flash to Cerberus.

He's heard the noise, even over the noise Sora and Riku are producing. The next thing I know, he's facing me and his red eyes are fixed solely on me.

_Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap._

He barks aggressively at me, spittle flying from its mouth. If I wasn't so terrified, I might have been slightly more disgusted.

Panic-stricken, and clearly not thinking rationally, I turn on my heels and run in the opposite direction. Why I chose to run this way, I don't know, because I quickly meet with a wall.

"Kairi!" Sora shouts.

I have my back pressed against the wall as Cerberus lunges at me, his three heads bending downwards to take a bite out of me.

I have to time this just right.

Right before Cerberus can make me a part of his diet, I leap to the right. He can't stop himself in time and all three of his heads collide with the wall with a dull thud.

He groans and slowly topples over onto his side, causing the floor to shake for a second. I stare at his unconscious body for a couple seconds before I'm breathing out a sigh of relief, clutching a hand to my chest.

"That was a close one..."

I run back to the girl and gently help her out of the cage. "You ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She adjusts the lacy sleeves on her gold-and-cornflower blue slim outfit. "Thank you. I'm Penelo," she smiles politely, and then stares puzzlingly at me. "But…who are you people?"

"Let's just say we're allies," Riku answers as he walks forward. "We came to rescue you since you were being held hostage by Hades to force Vaan to fight for him."

Penelo is surprised. "You know Vaan?"

"Not personally, but we have seen him around. Kairi here thought he'd looked a little unenthusiastic about fighting in the tournament, so we did a little…digging around."

Penelo sighs, her face in a mask of woe. "It's all my fault that this happened. You see, Vaan and I landed in this world by accident, and we were going to leave. But then we heard there was going to be a tournament held in the Coliseum and we decided to stay and compete."

"We couldn't secure ourselves an entry pass however. This satyr who runs the games said we weren't heroes and therefore couldn't enter. Hades offered us an entry pass if we would agree to come over to his side and take out Hercules in the finals, promising us a generous reward if we did so."

"Vaan flat-out refused. But later, I pondered over what Hades had said and came to the conclusion that the generous reward he was referring to involved money. I wanted Vaan to have a better airship, so I suggested we go to the Underworld and see if there was something else we could do to earn the reward."

"Vaan didn't agree with the idea; he didn't trust Hades in the slightest, but I still went into the Underworld regardless. I didn't know until I made it to Hades' chamber that Vaan had followed me. A violent argument erupted between him and Hades, and, to vex him, Hades took me hostage."

"He said the only way Vaan could get me back was if he agreed to fight in a tournament he would be starting up soon and go all the way to the finals and beat Hercules. Because Vaan wanted to ensure my safety, he complied with Hades' demand, and he was forced into a tournament he didn't want to enter. All to protect me." Penelo's face becomes even sadder.

I make an attempt to cheer her up. "You don't have to worry about a thing. Vaan and Hercules' match should still be going on. If we show you to Vaan, then he won't have to fight anymore."

"But what about Hades?"

"Leave him to us," Sora grins.

The four of us sprint out of Hades' Chamber and towards the exit to the Underworld. We have to pause a few times to take out a few Heartless here and there, and I'm surprised to see Penelo being able to take out a few Heartless with some martial-arts moves of hers.

Hurrying ourselves to the Underdrome, we see Vaan and Hercules still engaged in battle. Vaan is attempting to cleave the head off of his opponent. He looks much more determined in this fight than he did when he was fighting Sora, Riku and I, and more resolute about taking Hercules out. Hades has certainly forced his hand. Meg and Phil are gazing down at the stage with worried expressions.

Hades is on the edge of his seat, his wicked face plastered with glee. "Now _that's_ what I call entertainment!"

Penelo is ahead of the rest of us. She runs up next to Meg and Phil at the edge of the platform they're on. She takes a moment to catch her breath and cups her mouth between her hands.

"Vaan!" Her voice echoes around the arena.

Almost immediately, Vaan freezes mid-step and his head swivels in Penelo's direction. He's so stunned he doesn't even move.

"P-Penelo?!"

She giggles at his reaction. "I'm okay! You don't have to fight anymore!"

Vaan blinks twice before he slowly breaks out into a grin. He releases his battle stance.

Hades is furious by the recent turn of events. "No! No!" He angrily gets to his feet. Penelo runs to Vaan and we follow after her.

"What are you doing?! Finish Hercules!"

Now that he's no longer a prisoner to Hades, Vaan can finally show some emotion. He gives Hades a mocking grin. "Sorry, Hades, but my contract is over. I quit."

Hades glowers fiercely at Sora, Riku and I. "You brats! How did you get past Cerberus? What happened to him?"

Sora grins, placing his arms behind his head. "Oh, he's taking a nap right now."

The Lord of the Dead goes from furious to downright irate in half a second, shaking with anger. His blue skin turns red and his flaming blue hair changes into fiery red flames. A column of fire bursts up from where he stands and he materializes in front of us in a cloud of fire and smoke.

"Ok, that is _it_!" He seethes, his eyes blazing. "I've played by the rules _so_ far, and I was planning on keeping up my end of the bargain and releasing the girl to you if you kept up your end. But since you want to terminate your contract early, I have no choice but to charge you an early termination fee." He returns to his seat in an instant.

"Rock Titan!" He bellows loudly. "Get down here _now_!"

There's a second of silence before the Underdrome begins to rumble. A gigantic, hulking creature made entirely out of rough, irregular stone crawls over the top of the arena and jumps down in front of us, shaking the ground like an earthquake.

Its body is barrel-shaped and its legs are short with flat feet. Its arms are relatively long. Two relatively small heads are placed side-by-side on the top of his body. Both of them have thick necks and small eyes. The eyes and the inside of both mouths are red.

"And you'll pay with your lives." Hades' face is nothing but malice. "Good thing I kept the fee collector around."

The creature takes a large step towards us, its foot causing the ground to shudder once more. Hercules squats into a crouch.

"And now this time, I'll—" Hades starts to say, but doesn't get a chance to finish thanks to Hercules darting over to the Rock Titan, leaping into the air, and delivering a solid punch straight to its body. It stumbles backwards and crashes into the balcony where Hades is standing.

"Huh." Hercules scratches his head. "Didn't think it'd go down so easy. Let's go before Hades shows back up again."

xxxxx

"I'm so glad you're alright, Penelo," Vaan beams at her once we've made it safely out of the Underdrome, standing in front of the Coliseum.

She smiles back softly before her eyes become filled with regret. "I'm sorry. I should've listened to you when you told me not to go down into the Underworld." She bites her lip. "You wouldn't have been involved in this mess if I didn't."

Vaan shakes his head and places his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, it's alright. We got out, didn't we? And I didn't have to kill anyone."

He gives us a gracious smile. "Thanks for saving my friend. And me as well. How'd you know that she was being kept a prisoner?"

"We've had experiences with Hades blackmailing people," Sora answers. "And we know when someone's being forced to fight. Plus we overheard your conversation with Hades in the Underworld when he was forcing you to bump off Hercules or you wouldn't get Penelo back."

"Well thanks for eavesdropping," Vaan laughs. "I really appreciate it. I can't thank you enough."

"You guys said you weren't from this world. Do you have a way of getting back?" Riku asks. He's probably thinking they might need to hitch a ride on the Gummi ship.

"No worries. My airship can get us back to Ivalice. I am a Sky Pirate after all," Vaan grins proudly, confidence radiating off him in waves. "If you guys ever come near Ivalice, you should drop by for a visit."

"Thanks, we will," I say. But I'm not exactly sure where Ivalice is located.

"Hey, do you remember where we parked the airship at?" Vaan inquires of his friend as they walk off together. She lets out a long sigh of exasperation.

"Thanks again, you guys," Meg says. "You really came through back there."

"It was nothing," Sora says. ""It's all part of being a hero, right?"

Hercules grins. "You three take care out there, ok? Don't worry about us. We'll be ready for Hades when he decides to show his face again."

After Sora, Riku and I say our goodbyes to Hercules, Meg, and Phil, we go back to our Gummi ship, ready to embark to another world, whether it be old or new.

xxxxx

ElvenPrincess01: And cut! That's a wrap! Thanks for the hard work people! You've been great!

Sora: You know you should save stuff like that for the last chapter of the story.

ElvenPrincess01: This is the last chapter of the story.

Sora: What?! How can that be? You just left off with an ending that pretty much has to have another chapter. I mean we never got to see these "dark forces" Master Yen Sid talked about in chapter 5.

ElvenPrincess01: I was just kidding. Do you really think I'd stop the story here? You saw my general outline for the story. Or at least what I have so far.

Sora: Oh right, I forgot.

ElvenPrincess01: Well I can say this: Thanks for reading, you guys! Please subscribe and leave a review if you can!

xxxxx


	17. So Close, Yet So Far

Kairi: So ElvenPrincess01, what world is next?

ElvenPrincess01: Actually, we're going to be taking a little detour…

Kairi: A detour? Where?

ElvenPrincess01: To the Pit of Despair! Mwahahahaha!

Kairi: You mean the secret dungeon from _The Princess Bride_ where the torture device was located?

ElvenPrincess01: Exactly!

Kairi: Why would we be going there for?

ElvenPrincess01: We can, you know…have a look around and…stuff.

Kairi: …

ElvenPrincess01: You know I'm just kidding. Who would want to go there?

Kairi: I'm sure Larxene would enjoy a place like that. I bet she'd enjoy torturing people on The Machine.

ElvenPrincess01: Yeah, she probably would. But enough about torture chambers. I am _so _excited about this chapter! I'm going to introduce one of my favorite _Kingdom Hearts _characters!

Sora: He doesn't rank higher than me, does he?

ElvenPrincess01: How do you know the person is a he?

Sora: I saw your master plan for the story, remember?

ElvenPrincess01: Oh right. No, he doesn't rank higher than you, rest assured. But I still love him so much. Originally, I was going to introduce him in chapter 8 when you, Kairi and Riku stopped by Hollow Bastion before you started journeying, but I decided for the sake of the plot to save him for later. And later is now! I've been waiting to write this chapter for a long time now! Let's not waste any time. To the disclaimer!

Kairi: ElvenPrincess01 does not hold any possessions over _Kingdom Hearts_, Disney or _Final Fantasy_. Thank you.

ElvenPrincess01: And now to the chapter!

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter_

"_No worries. My airship can get us back to Ivalice. I am a Sky Pirate after all," Vaan grins proudly, confidence radiating off him in waves. "If you guys ever come near Ivalice, you should drop by for a visit."_

"_Thanks, we will," I say. But I'm not exactly sure where Ivalice is located._

"_Hey, do you remember where we parked the airship at?" Vaan inquires of his friend as they walk off together. She lets out a long sigh of exasperation._

"_Thanks again, you guys," Meg says. "You really came through back there."_

"_It was nothing," Sora says. "It's all part of being a hero, right?" _

_Hercules grins. "You three take care out there, ok? Don't worry about us. We'll be ready for Hades when he decides to show his face again."_

_After Sora, Riku and I say our goodbyes to Hercules, Meg, and Phil, we go back to our Gummi ship, ready to embark to another world, whether it be old or new._

**Chapter 17: So Close, Yet So Far**

"Hey guys," Chip pipes up as Riku starts up the Gummi ship. "A few minutes before you came back, Cid called in from Hollow Bastion. He said you guys need to come back straightaway!"

Riku frowns a little and his fingers slow down as they move across the control board. I'm beginning to feel a sense of unease as well.

"Did he say what was up?"

"Nope! He just said to return to Hollow Bastion as quick as you could!"

"It didn't seem like there was an emergency though!" Dale chips in.

Riku's shoulders relax a bit. "That's good. Let's go see what he needs."

Riku warp drives the ship to Hollow Bastion. Even though Dale said it didn't seem like there was an emergency, we still hurry back to Merlin's place, the headquarters of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee.

The town still looks pretty much the same. Quiet and peaceful. The reason why Cid called for us can't be related to the town's security. There aren't any visible threats. So why did he call us back?

Opening the door to Merlin's house, we see Cid sitting down in front of the large computer with Merlin next to him.

Cid swivels around lazily in his chair to face us. A cigarette pokes out between his lips.

"Well, you showed up quicker than I expected." He removes the cigarette from his mouth and blows out a thin trail of smoke. If Yuffie was here, she would be throwing a fit.

"What's the matter?" Sora asks.

Cid gestures the cigarette at Merlin. "Ask him." He promptly sticks the roll-up back into his mouth. "He knows more about it than I do."

"There's no emergency or anything like that," Merlin assures us. "Nothing to worry yourselves about. It really only concerns Kairi."

"Really?" I could feel Sora and Riku's eyes flicker to me in confusion. "What is it?"

"It would appear that Princess Jasmine needs Kairi to come to Agrabah for the trying on of the…bridesmaid dresses for her wedding."

Bridesmaid dresses? Oh, right, I remember the day I had tea with Jasmine and the others she mentioned she had the bridesmaid dresses picked out and she wanted me to try mine on.

"She set up this day in advance to gather all the Princesses together for this, so Cinderella used her Fairy Godmother to get in touch with me. I then asked Cid to contact you at your Gummi ship, since you appeared to be out on a trip."

"So…nothing's wrong?" Sora looks like he was expecting some action involving Heartless or something. Not a bunch of girls getting together to try on dresses.

"No, nothing's wrong…unless the dresses don't fit. Anyways, Kairi, I can take you to Agrabah myself if you don't want to go back to your ship. I'm sure the Fairy Godmother can take you back once you and the girls are done."

"Where are Leon and the others?" Sora asks as he gazes around the room empty of the rest of the restoration committee.

"Up in that castle," Cid answers. He puffs out another trail of smoke. "Been trying to clean it up ever since you left."

"Then Riku and I will go lend a hand while Kairi's away."

"That sounds like a splendid idea." Merlin adjusts his glasses, pushing them up the bridge of his nose. "Are you ready, my dear?" He asks me.

I nod my head in reply. "Ready when you are."

Merlin teleports the two of us to the sprawling world of Agrabah. It's a desert kingdom, which means plenty of sand, and blistering hot weather. The sun is high in the sky, and it blazes down on Merlin and me.

In front of us is the towering palace, complete with a large dome in the center and smaller ones around it. The minarets all vary in size, some short, some tall.

The palace is humongous, and I cannot even begin to imagine how long it took to build a place like this. It makes me wonder how rich Jasmine and her father are.

"I'm afraid I don't have time to tarry," Merlin says. "You can see yourself in, right? Tell the others I said hello!" And just like that, Merlin is gone.

There aren't any guards standing outside the huge wooden doors leading into the palace, so I guess I can just walk in. Either security is extremely lax or Jasmine and the Sultan are just that trustworthy that they don't expect any assassination attempts on their lives.

I push open one of the doors slowly and peek inside tentatively. Right behind the doors is a courtyard, empty of anyone. On the other side is another set of doors.

I step into the courtyard and close the door behind myself. "Hello?" There's no answer. "Hel-_lo_?" I try again, but there's no one here to answer me.

_Should I just waltz in? I have no idea where Jasmine and the others are supposed to be._

I look up when one of the doors leading into the palace opens up and a young man steps out with a monkey on his shoulder.

The young man has tan skin, brown eyes, thick black eyebrows, and a thick head of black, shaggy hair.

The small monkey that perches perfectly on his shoulder has orange-brown hair and pale skin. He wears a tiny little fez on his head and a thin vest. There's a mischievous look in his large black eyes.

"Ok, now we're just going to—"The man stops quickly after just taking a few steps into the courtyard when he notices me. A broad grin spreads over his features. "Hey, Kairi!" He waves an arm at me and continues forward.

"Hi, uh..."I pause as I try to remember who's Aladdin and who's Abu.

I peer into the guy's eyes. "Abu? And…" I peer into the monkey's eyes. "Aladdin?"

The monkey chatters noisily, and I immediately realize that I'm wrong.

I blush slightly. "No, wait, that's not right. Switch those around."

Aladdin chuckles at my mistake. "Close enough. What's up?" He talks to me like we're old friends, which makes me feel a little guilty at the fact that I can't remember a single thing about him.

Sora and Riku had to tell me things about him for me to get a clue about who he was. This was the guy who started out as a street rat, searching for food on the streets. Then he found a magical lamp in a hidden cave out in the desert that contained a genie that could grant wishes, befriended the genie, and eventually freed him. Along the way he met and started a relationship with the princess of Agrabah, Princess Jasmine. This is Jasmine's husband-to-be.

"Just traveling to other worlds, fighting Heartless. Same old, same old."

"You still didn't get your memories back, did you?" He hits the hammer right on the nail. Though that's probably to be expected since I got him and his monkey friend mixed up.

"No, I'm afraid not," I sigh. "Oh! I'm supposed to go and see Jasmine. Something about bridesmaid dresses for the wedding?"

"Oh yeah. All the other girls are in Jasmine's room. Here, I'll take you," he generously offers.

Aladdin shows me into the lavish palace which doesn't lie about its interior size from its exterior; the place is humongous, with wide halls and ceilings that stretch up impossibly high.

He leads me through a few corridors till he stops in front of a room in which I can hear muted laughter from inside.

"They're in here," he says. "Abu and I are going to the marketplace now. We'll catch you later." Aladdin waves before he heads down the corridor from which we came. Further down the corridor, I can hear Abu chattering in a high-pitched voice. Aladdin exhales, saying, "Yeah, yeah, I hear you, Abu."

I knock on the door in front of me. "Who is it?" Jasmine sings from within.

"It's me, Kairi."

I jump back as the door is yanked open a few seconds later. Jasmine stands there in the doorway. She smiles brightly at me.

"Oh Kairi, it's so good to see you! Come on in, you're just in time!" She quickly pulls me in by my arm into her bedroom.

Jasmine's room resembles a small ballroom more than a bedroom. Cinderella, Snow White, Alice, Belle, and Aurora are all present, sitting on the finely embroidered furniture around the exquisite vanity table.

"Kairi! You're here!" They cheer in delight, smiles lighting up their faces. Half of them have their dresses on already. The other half are in the process of putting them on, the fabric between their fingers as they pause to smile at me.

The top halves of the dresses are violet and the bottom halves are a shade of lavender. The two colors are separated by golden belts that encircle the girls' waist. Wide necklines expose not only the necks and collarbones, but the tips of the shoulders as well. And long golden veils swing down past the girls' waist.

"So, what do you think?" Jasmine asks me. Cinderella does a little spin, and the dress fans out around her.

I grin. "They look great." The dresses are simple but elegant. They'll be perfect for the wedding.

Jasmine is pleased by my opinion. "I knew you'd say that. Here." She crosses the room over to her bed and hands me a dress lying there. "This one is yours."

The dress is a snug fit. It fits my frame perfectly, not too loose and not too tight. The hem brushes against my ankles.

Aurora looks me over. "Looks like it's a perfect fit."

"Do a little spin," Jasmine commands. When I obey, she claps her hands together in clear glee. "Oh, it's perfect!" She looks me up and down with an appraising look in her dark eyes. "I was a little afraid the seamstresses were going to mess up the measurements, but they got them perfectly."

Belle adjusts the neckline of her dress. "Now that we've got our dresses on, don't you think it's about time for you to show us your wedding dress, Jazz? I've been waiting to see this one," she grins.

Jasmine giggles at the prospect of showing off her dress. "I'll go get it then." She nearly bounces over to her closet and pulls out a white dress. Before I can get a good look at it, she quickly goes behind the closet so I can't see a single thing.

She hums a sweet melody as she dons the clothing. She's definitely in love. I'm really happy for her.

"Kairi?" Snow White speaks up her in honey-sweet voice while we wait on Jasmine. "Did you come any closer to regaining your memories?"

"Well…" I twiddle my thumbs. "Not really. I get glimpses of my memories in dreams from time to time, but I have yet to get them all back." I'm seriously hoping I won't have to get all my memories back through dreams while I sleep. That will take forever I'm sure.

"Really? What do you remember?" Alice asks curiously.

I tell them about a couple of the memories I've recovered recently until Jasmine tells us she's done. "Ok, I'm ready!" Turning our heads towards the closet, we see the princess of Agrabah step out into the open.

She wears a long, slender, white dress with a train that trails behind her on the floor as she walks. The dress has a piece of gold fabric that drapes her neckline, and a thick gold band that girdles her slim waist. Her veil swirls down behind her.

The six of us gape as Jasmine slowly walks forward like she's already marching down the aisle for her big day. A soft smile is on her face.

"Wow, Jasmine," Cinderella breathes. "You look beautiful."

"Aladdin's a lucky guy," I say. The wedding gown only enhances Jasmine's already abundant beauty.

"Thanks, girls," Jasmine says. She touches a hand to her luscious black hair. "I think I should add some flowers to my hair...Oh, I almost forgot."

She bustles over to the vanity table as best as she can without failing over, reaches into a drawer, and pulls out a tray of jewelry. She holds it out to us, revealing six sets of large gold earrings and golden necklaces.

"These are for you guys. To go with the dresses," she explains.

The earrings are much like the usual gold earrings Jasmine wears. Pretty, but also a little heavy. They pull down slightly on my earlobes. I'm going to have sore earlobes after this wedding.

Once we put the glitzy jewelry on, Jasmine starts to give us instructions of what to do during the wedding ceremony.

"You guys are kind of like bridesmaids/flower girls. To start off the procession, Genie is going to blow a trumpet. That's your cue to start walking. All you have to do is just throw flowers from the baskets in your arms onto the floor."

"Once you get to the front where Aladdin and I will stand, make a left and stand off to the side behind me. Then after that, my father will come out, and then I'll make my entrance."

Once we all get on the same page with the directions, Jasmine claps her hands together in excitement once more. "This is so exciting! I can't believe I'm getting married." She spins around, and a dreamy, love-struck expression appears on her face. I think we've lost her for a second, but she immediately returns to reality.

"For those of you who got married, was it this exciting for you too?"

"Oh yes, definitely," Cinderella affirms. "Nothing is more enjoyable than being able to spend the rest of your life with the one you love." Snow White and Aurora nod their assent.

"When is the wedding, anyways?" I have no idea how long Sora, Riku, and I will be traveling around the different worlds, and I would hate to have to miss the wedding because we were stuck fighting Heartless in another world.

"In a few weeks. It would have been earlier, but when you disappeared after you lost your memories, Aladdin and I had to push some things back."

A pang of irrational guilt surges through me. It's not my fault that I lost my memory and unknowingly and unintentionally sabotaged Jasmine and Aladdin's wedding.

"Sorry," I say.

Jasmine shakes her head. "Don't you apologize for anything, Kairi. It's not your fault. Besides, this just gives us more time to plan out last-minute details."

Jasmine talks to the rest of us about the wedding, and then after that we all just sit around discussing stuff that has happened in our lives recently.

When we're done, Cinderella summons her Fairy Godmother to whisk us back to our respective worlds. Before she departs, Aurora gives the bride some essential advice.

"Now Jasmine, try not to gain a substantial amount of weight before the wedding or you won't be able to fit into your dress," she teases good-humoredly.

Jasmine titters in reply. "I'll say the same for you. Don't _you_ gain any weight before the wedding or you won't be able to fit into _your _dress."

The Fairy Godmother takes me back to Hollow Bastion at my request. Once again I wasn't very specific on the exact location I wanted to be dropped off in, so she places me in the middle of the marketplace. The shop with the young duck that was haggling Sora before over an increase in the price of potions is on my right.

I wonder if Sora and Riku are still helping Leon and the others in the castle. I can see it off in the distance, the colossal structure looming in the horizon. There's something different about its appearance and it takes me a few seconds before I realize what it is.

Some machinery parts have been removed from the top of the bastion itself, producing a less warped version of the castle. How they managed to get the pieces down from there I have no idea.

_Maybe I should check in at Merlin's place first to see if they're there_, I tell myself.

I'm just walking along comfortably through the town, almost to Merlin's place when I see a lone figure standing in front of the wall Yuffie was on when I first encountered her post-memory loss.

The figure notices me right after I notice them. They turn halfway to face me and straighten up in an instant.

The person is wearing a black and red organic-looking bodysuit and a silver helmet that obscures the face from view. From the muscular body structure, I assume it's a guy. And my guess is proved right when they start to speak.

"Well, if isn't Red." His voice carries a tone of pleasant surprise. He crosses his arms over his chest. "Didn't expect to find you here.

I frown at the figure. _Red?_ _Must be the hair...And who is this guy?_

I stare at him for a few moments, hoping some memory might come to mind and clue me in on the identity of the person poised in front of me, but I am awarded with absolutely nothing.

I think I may have something, a faint memory teasing at the back of my head, but I can't grasp onto it. It's too slippery.

"Hey, are you still there?"

I'm startled out of my trance. I didn't mean to stare at the guy so long. I almost forgot where I was.

"Who are you?" I ask.

The masked figure throws his head back, letting out a loud laugh like he's heard a good joke.

"Good one, Red. Acting like you don't remember me. I didn't think you were the joking type."

I blink at him. It's just like Hades all over again. "No really, who are you?"

"Hey. You can stop playing now." Some of the amusement has faded from the guy's voice. He thinks it's a bad joke now.

"I'm not playing. I really don't remember you."

"Really? You don't remember me?" There's a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Well maybe if you took off your mask, I might be able to recognize you."

The guy snorts. "That won't help. You didn't see my face when we met in Traverse Town."

"Traverse Town?" I frown in confusion. "What was I doing in Traverse Town?"

The guy shrugs. "How should I know? I wasn't keeping tabs on you." He appears to study my face for a moment. At least I think he is. It's hard to tell when he's wearing a mask.

He eventually heaves a sigh. "Oh come on, Red. I know we had a brief first-time encounter, but I didn't think you'd forget about me so quickly."

I don't say anything, and there's a bit of an awkward silence.

"Vanitas? My name? Ring any bells?"

_Vanitas…Vanitas…Vanitas..._My eyes scrutinize his figure, and I think maybe…Nope, nothing there.

"I don't remember anything. I lost all my memories."

"You lost all your memories? How'd you manage that?"

"How should I know? I lost all my memories."

Vanitas scratches his head. "Huh…Maybe you lost your memory when you fell down the stairs and bumped your head..."

My heart skips a beat. "Wait, w-what did you just say?" I think I may have just made a major breakthrough but I need to be absolutely sure. "Did you just say I fell down the stairs and bumped my head?"

"Yeah, you fell down the stairs when we were fighting and—"

"We were fighting?" I instantly become wary. This guy is starting to give off the wrong vibes. "Why exactly were we fighting?"

"Because...No, I can't say that," he says quietly, but not too quietly that I can't hear. "That would reveal too much."

"Reveal what?"

Vanitas continues talking to himself like he hasn't heard me. "I mean, if you've really forgotten everything, it'd be better for us...Yes, I'm sure you forgot everything. Otherwise you probably would have already attacked me."

Ok, that settles it. Vanitas is definitely a bad guy.

"Who are you? And how do I know you?" I have half a mind to take out my Keyblade but I want to see what this guy is going to do first.

He speaks up louder now. "How about instead of answering that, we have ourselves a little fight? Not a real one. We're not fighting to the death or anything. We'll just have a battle right here, a rematch if you will. If you win, I'll tell you _anything_ you want to know. If you don't, well...you don't get to know. Sound good?"

I intently stare at Vanitas, calculating. He said we would have a fight, but he didn't say what kind. "What kind of fight?"

"What? It isn't obvious?" Vanitas' tone is somewhat mocking. I'm stunned when a Keyblade is summoned into his right hand. "We're going to have a Keyblade battle."

I don't think I can be any more shocked by this sight. But Vanitas _did_ say we fought in Traverse Town. What else would we have fought with except for Keyblades?

I am immediately taken back to a conversation Sora and I had atop the clock tower in Twilight Town. He said we never saw any other Keyblade wielders in our journeys, but I did; I just didn't remember him.

"You...you have a Keyblade," I say dumbly.

"Yeah, and the sky is blue," Vanitas says in a mildly sarcastic voice. "Any more observations you want to make?"

I don't say anything, and Vanitas lets out another labored sigh. "Man, that tumble down the stairs _really_ did a number on you."

He puts one leg behind him as his body turns towards the side. Simultaneously, he holds out his left arm in front of him with his Keyblade in his right hand pointed directly at me.

"I hope you didn't forget your fighting skills." His body is in position and ready for action, like a lion ready to pounce on vulnerable prey.

I have two options at this point: fight or flight. I could run since Vanitas seems to be a skilled opponent. But if I do that, I won't get the answers I need.

It's obvious that I met Vanitas the same day I lost my memories. If I had taken the King's Star Shard that day, then...that means it transported me to Traverse Town. And one way or another, I was transported to Spira, though I have no idea how.

But I'm sure the boy in front of me may know something.

"You said if I beat you," I say slowly, "you'll tell me anything I want to know...right?"

"Anything you want. But first, you have to beat me. And I won't go down so easily." I bet he's smirking behind that mask of his.

"Fine." I summon Destiny's Embrace to my hand and ready myself. "Then let's fight."

Neither one of us moves after my declaration of battle however. I expect Vanitas to take the first strike so I'm waiting for him. I have no idea what his fighting style is like so I'd rather he come to me first. But either he's waiting for me to make the first move or he's just studying me before he attacks.

A few seconds pass and finally, he lunges at me, impossibly quick.

I barely have enough time to leap out of the way. I position my weapon in front of me in case he comes at me once again with the same speed.

Vanitas unhurriedly faces me. "Uh, you know, you're not going to beat me if you're just going to jump away."

"I know," I say. He caught me off guard with his speed. I wasn't expecting him to be that fast. When I saw him coming at me, my brain froze up and the only thing I could do to save myself was to get out of harm's way.

Vanitas charges at me once more but I'm ready for him this time. Still, I only manage to parry his blow in the nick of time.

The masked boy grunts as his Keyblade clashes against mine. I clench my fingers tighter around the handle of mine, bracing against his strength.

"Hmm, not bad. But you can stop…_this_?" He pulls back his Keyblade and takes another strike at me. The strikes keep coming, one after another, forcing me onto the defensive. My Keyblade is the only thing between me and Vanitas' furious onslaught.

The only sounds that can be heard are the sounds of metal clanging against each other. Vanitas levels strike after strike against me, and I have to back up as he does so.

He swipes his Keyblade horizontally at me, and I dodge the attack by rolling out of the way. When I get to my feet, I take a few more steps back, accounting for Vanitas' speed that can clear gaps like that.

"Hey, aren't you going to attack me?" He asks as he faces me. "It was more fun the last time we fought. You were on fire. I'm not even fighting at 100% now. I'm holding back," he admits.

He's not even using his full power. And I've been put on the defensive for most of the fight so far.

I'm not going to wait any longer for him to attack me anymore. I need answers, and I need them now.

I know I'm not as fast as him, but I charge at Vanitas anyways, going for the initiative myself.

He blocks my strike, and the one after that. He attempts to get under my guard and try some attacks of his own, but I parry each one of them.

The battle progresses like that, each of us attacking one another as our weapons slide against each other, only to be pressed against one another half a second later.

Harking back to a fight sequence I did with Riku during my training week, I spin out in a fluid motion and follow up with a side slash at Vanitas, which he counters.

Vanitas doesn't give me any room to use magic, and he makes no attempt to use any, so it's a matter of whose swordplay is better.

I'm still on defense more than I'm on offense, but I still successfully manage to hold my own.

Vanitas and I lock blades once more, pressing against each other while trying not to show the slightest hint of weakness. Locked in a stalemate, we jump back from each other.

We circle each other for a couple moments and then we both lunge at each other at the same time. But before we can connect, we come to a halt as we hear a door being slung open.

"Hey, I'm going to the marketplace to get some ice cream." That's Yuffie's voice. And it sounds like it's coming from Merlin's place. "Cid, you want anything?"

I can't hear anything Cid says, but I can hear Yuffie loud and clear.

"Will you stop smoking?! It's bad for your health! Give me that!" Her voice fades away as she retreats back into the house to confiscate one of Cid's cigarettes.

The marketplace. In order to get there, Yuffie has to walk through the area Vanitas and I are currently fighting in. Which means...

Vanitas is thinking the same thing I'm thinking. He straightens back up, dropping his Keyblade-wielding arm down harmlessly at his side.

"Well Red, it seems like we're going to have to cut this fight short. Sorry, but you didn't win. So no information for you." He almost sings the last part as he de-materializes his Keyblade.

My eyes narrow in annoyance. "My name is Kairi," I scowl in a somewhat irritable voice. I'm not just annoyed at the fact that this Vanitas guy likes to use nicknames with me; it's also because I didn't manage to beat him, which means I won't be able to figure out what happened the day I lost my memory.

Vanitas shrugs me off. "Eh, I prefer Red. It suits you better."

He snaps his fingers and a Corridor of Darkness appears behind him, swirling with pulsing dark energy.

"Wait!" I call out as he moves to depart. "I have a question."

"Uh, you didn't win. Therefore I don't have to tell you anything."

"Can you at least tell me who it is that you're working with? And what they want with me?"

"Oh, so you want to know that, do you? Well it's not so much who I'm working _with_. It's more of who I'm working _for_."

"Then who are you working for?"

"The Master. That's all you need to know."

I'm not entirely satisfied with that answer, but I have a feeling Vanitas isn't going to hand out any more free information since I didn't defeat him in battle. Still, I have to know more.

"What does your Master want with me? And if I did tumble down the stairs in Traverse Town and was knocked unconscious, how come you two just left me there?"

Vanitas lets out a short laugh. "If I were to tell you that now, it'll spoil the surprise."

He starts to back up into the Corridor of Darkness. "But don't worry," he says in a slightly sinister voice, "you'll be seeing me again soon..._very_ soon."

He waggles his fingers at me. "Later, honey." And he disappears completely into the Corridor.

Just as the portal disappears into thin air, Yuffie rounds the corner. A smile breaks out across her face when she lays eyes on me. "Hey, Kairi! It's good to see you again!" She runs over to me.

I force a smile onto my face, finding it a little difficult after what transpired between Vanitas and me just before the ninja girl showed up.

"Hey Yuffie. What's up?"

"Nothing much." Yuffie stretches her arms above her head, letting out a sigh. "Just cleaning the castle up. I was just on my way to get some ice cream at the marketplace. You want some?"

"Nah," I say. "But thanks for offering. Are Sora and Riku still up in the castle?"

"Oh yeah, they're still there with Leon." Yuffie jabs a thumb in the tower's direction. "I think they're finishing up though. You should probably wait in Merlin's."

"Thanks."

"No problem!"

I don't have to wait long for the guys to show up. They show up only two minutes after I reach Merlin's.

Leon quickly leaves for the marketplace, citing Yuffie's sweet tooth that may just very well drain her wallet.

"Hey Kairi," Sora smiles at me. "How'd the—" He breaks off when he sees my face. Clearly I have a serious expression on my face.

I cut straight to the chase. "I found another Keyblade wielder."

xxxxx

"So wait, what did he say again?" Riku asks me to repeat Vanitas' words one more time.

"He said he's working for 'the Master', whoever that may be. And they want something with me, though I don't know what. He wouldn't say. And then before he disappeared, he said he would be seeing me very soon."

"Hmm..." A deep frown is etched onto Riku's face as he stares hard at the floor. "What could that mean...?"

"Do you think it may have something to do with the kidnapping of the Princesses of Heart ten years ago?" I ask.

"...it may be, but I don't know. I mean who's this Master guy? That's what I want to know."

Sora isn't troubled in the slightest by the news of an evil head honcho. "Well whoever he is, he's not getting anywhere near Kairi. We'll take care of him," he boasts.

"Once we finish journeying to the other worlds, we should hurry back to the Mysterious Tower so we can tell this to the King and Master Yen Sid," Riku decides. "It might be important. In the meantime, we'll keep a lookout for this masked guy. He might show up again."

The conversation turns to a less serious topic, of what Sora, Riku, Leon, and Yuffie were up to in the castle (Aerith caught a cold, so she stayed in today). Despite this, my mind still swirls with questions.

Who is this Vanitas guy really? Who is the Master? What does he want with me? What was I doing the day I lost my memories in Traverse Town, the day I met Vanitas? Did I know some crucial information to the puzzle of the Master's identity that I simply forgot?

One thing's for sure. I need to get my memories back. Fast.

xxxxx


	18. She's Got A Dream

ElvenPrincess01: Oh my gosh, I can not believe the last time I updated was in March.

Sora: I can. You've been pretty slack lately.

ElvenPrincess01: Yeah, you're one to talk about being slack.

Sora: Hey!

ElvenPrincess01: Anyways, I'm sorry to have left you guys hanging. I meant to update earlier much, _much _sooner, but I got some serious writer's block, and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to do the world this chapter is based on because I wasn't satisfied with the storyline. And when I finally got down to writing the chapter, I got a virus on my computer. And then once the issue was cleared, I had to deal with other computer issues for a while, and I had to type up some of the story on my phone, and it was just a huge mess.

Sora: There was also the E3 convention.

ElvenPrincess01: Oh yeah, E3. That Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer was phenonemnal!

Sora: I noticed. You spent all of yesterday rewatching it half a million times and watching videos of people react to it.

ElvenPrincess01: Well it was pretty awesome.

Sora: It was. I looked amazing!

ElvenPrincess01: Well I would just love to go on and on about how great the trailer was, but this chapter isn't about my reactions to my trailer. So take it away, Sora!

Sora: Right! ElvenPrincess01 does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, or Square Enix.

ElvenPrincess01: Let's get to it! Btw, I had to put the story in WordPad which doesn't have a spellcheck, so please forgive me for any grammatical errors in this chapter.

_Previous Chapter_

_"Once we finish journeying to the other worlds, we should hurry back to the Tower so we can tell what happened to the King and Master Yen Sid," Riku decides about the appearance of Vanitas. "It might be important. In the meantime, we'll keep a lookout for this masked guy. He might show up again."_

_The conversation turns to a less serious topic, about what Sora, Riku, Leon, and Yuffie were up to in the castle earlier (Aerith caught a cold, so she stayed in today), but my mind is still swirling with questions._

_Who is this Vanitas guy really? Who is the Master? What does he want with me? What was I doing the day I lost my memories, the day I met Vanitas? Did I know some crucial information to the puzzle of the Master's identity that I simply forgot?_

_I need to get my memories back. Fast._

**Chapter 18: She's Got A Dream**

"Looks like the name of the world is…Corona," I read out the characters on the map on the Gummi ship's monitor. I have to tap the screen a couple times to get it to work with me, but after a few seconds of loading, it finally grants me an answer.

The Gummi ship descends on what appears to be a green, leafy forest. Tall, leafy trees stretch their branches towards the sky, blocking out some of the sun so that only slivers of sunlight peek through the leaves. It's still pretty bright in here though.

Foliage dots the forest floor, along with dozens and dozens of dandelions, arranged in irregular form like a crowd of people.

Sora maneuvers our fine ship behind a large oak tree, part of it veiled by a large net of leaves that form a curtain almost.

There's a soft rustling noise as my feet land on the soft ground, the grass around my sneakers crinkling. A soft breeze blows through the air, and off in the distance, songbirds sing a lovely little melody.

I think I might actually like this place. It's a fresh breath of air compared to the dark and gloomy halls of the Underworld. Literally. The air is rich with the scent of flowers. I'm almost tempted to forgo the mission at hand and just lie on the grass for a bit, basking in the warm rays of sunlight.

Sora glances around the area for a few moments before he asks, "So where do we start first?"

"Hmm…"Riku muses as he too stares around the area. "We have no idea how big this forest is…We could be walking for days."

"Maybe there's someone who lives around here who can lend us a hand," I speculate. There's gotta be someone around here.

"Good thinking," Riku says. "Let's have a look around."

Not even five minutes into our search for another living, breathing person, since all we're really seeing are plants, we pass through another curtain of leaves and into a valley. A few hundred yards or so away, near a glistening river that spills over one side of the valley is a tall stone tower.

"It's a tower," I state, studying the make of it. It's a stone tower partially covered with overgrown vines.

"I wonder if anyone's inside," Sora wonders.

Riku's eyes search over the structure. "I don't know. It might be abandoned. I mean look at it, there's no way of climbing that thing."

"Eh, maybe you're right."

"Come on, let's try somewhere else."

Almost immediately after we walk out from behind the curtain of leaves, we are greeted with an ambush of Heartless, disturbing the quiet, peaceful atmosphere of the forest. It's a troop of Soldiers, their armor clinking as they jump around mindlessly on the spot.

Sora, Riku and I instantly jump into action, summoning our Keyblades as the Soldiers rush at us, probably attempting to catch us off guard with quick speed.

Claw strikes and spin kicks are their main offensive moves. The claw strikes are easy to block but the spin kicks are a bit more difficult, especially when they jump into the air before the attack.

One of the Soldiers lands a spin kick right on the center of my chest, sending me staggering back a few steps and knocking the breath out of me momentarily.

I manage to dodge its next move and bring my Keyblade down on its helmeted head in an overhead arcing blow.

The Heartless are no match for us and we demolish the army in no time. No more Heartless pop out at us. But no sooner than we put away our Keyblades do we hear a rustling sound from behind the curtain of leaves.

More Heartless? I think, but we're all surprised to see a petite blond girl in a dress dart out, nearly bumping into Sora.

"Ah!" She makes a little terrified scream and the next thing I know, she's pointing a frying pan at us, her eyes wide with fear and her small hands trembling.

"What the—?"

"Who are you?!" She demands to know.

A little green chameleon is on the girl's shoulders and it narrows its eyes in what I assume to be a glare. But he's so adorable it's hard to take him seriously.

Riku holds his hands in front of him in a placating gesture. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down; we're not trying to hurt you."

"Hey, blondie," another voice sounds out from behind the curtain, "where'd you—?"A young man emerges out into the open and pauses, observing the scene before him. The blonde girl using a frying pan as a weapon and Riku with his hands in the air.

He blinks once in confusion. "Uh…what's going on here?"

The girl quickly darts over to her companion, not taking her eyes off us for a second neither lowering her pan by an inch.

"Flynn, I think these guys might be the evil people Mother told me about," she whispers loudly to him.

The man known as Flynn looks us over. "Really?" His face has an unimpressed expression on it. "Cause they don't really look like much."

"Hey!" Sora is insulted.

"We're just on a hunt for some Heartless," Riku explains, his eyes trained on the frying pan leveled at him. It looks like it could do some serious damage if it hits him. "We were looking for someone who could help us through this forest."

The blonde girl frowns, lowering her weapon just a couple inches. "Heartless? What are they?"

"They're these ink-black creatures that go around stealing peoples' heart and wreaking havoc pretty much wherever they go," I respond.

The girl gasps in shock, finally putting down her frying pan. "Those must be the evil things Mother talked about!"

Flynn snorts. "Heartless?" His voice is somewhat mocking. "I've never even heard of these 'Heartless' or seen anything like them." He folds his arms over his chest. "Can't be that much of a threat."

"Trust us, they're bad news," Sora says.

"Well where are they now?" The girl asks.

"Well…that's the thing. "The Heartless pretty much pop up wherever and whenever they want. We just happened to defeat a group of them just minutes before you showed up in this very spot."

And the frying pan is back up in position, the blonde girl pointing it in various directions, like she's expecting an ambush.

Flynn shakes his head in amusement. "Uh, blondie?" He places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "There's nothing there. Let's try to calm down, ok?"

She scans the forest for a few more moments before she turns her head to face the man.

"Hey, maybe we should have them accompany us on our way to see the lanterns. What if these Heartless pop up on our way there?"

"What? Are you serious? We don't need bodyguards. We'll be just fine on our own."

His companion isn't so sure. "I don't know, Flynn..."

"Where did you say you were going again?" Sora asks.

The girl immediate brightens up at Sora's question, her eyes dancing in delight. "We're going to see the lanterns," she breathes. "They appear every year over the kingdom of Corona on my birthday. I've always wanted to see them, so I figured I would see them on my 18th birthday comng up."

She side-eyes Flynn as she continues. "Flynn intruded into the tower so I made a deal with him that if he took me to see the lanterns, I would give him back the satchel he was carrying."

"Wait, you mean…you live in that tower over there?" Sora points to the left.

The girl nods happily. "That's the one!"

Sora rounds on Riku with a look that read "I told you" on his face. "See? I told you there was someone living there!" Riku just rolls his eyes.

"What do you think, Pascal?" The blonde girl asks of her little chameleon friend. Apparently she speaks chameleon because she seems to understand the squeaking noises he makes. "Pascal thinks they should come with us," she informs Flynn.

He does a little eye-roll. "Right, because I'm going to take advice from a little lizard," he says in a tone thick with sarcasm. Pascal squeaks angrily.

"He's a chameleon," the girl corrects him.

"Whatever."

While the girl was conversing with Pascal, Sora, Riku and I have a little discussion of our own. Ultimately, we decide it'd be best if we travel around with the two of them. Or three if we're counting the reptile.

There could be more Heartless around, and this girl doesn't exactly look like she knows how to fight. There's not a lot of damage that can be done to Heartless with a measly frying pan I don't think. And perhaps traveling with them might lead us to the heart of the world.

So we take the girl up on her offer. "We'll be glad to accompany you on your journey to see these lantern…thingies," I speak for us.

"Really?" A dazzling smile springs onto the blonde's face. "Great!" She claps her hands together twice. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Don't you think so, Flynn?"

"Yeah, sure." His eyes narrow before they flicker towards us. "Well I guess since we're going to be traveling companions from now on, we should introduce ourselves." His scowling face is quickly replaced with a lopsided grin. "Name's Flynn. Flynn Rider." I can almost feel the conceit rubbing off this guy.

"My name's Rapunzel," the girl introduces herself. "This is Pascal." She gestures to the chameleon with a hand and the chameleon waves back.

Once Sora, Riku and I introduce ourselves, our journey can begin. I'm curious to ask Rapunzel why her hair is so extraordinarily long but she doesn't give me a lot of opportunities to ask a lot of questions.

It's her first time in the outside world, so she's quick and eager to drink up all the sights it can offer her, whether it's rolling around in piles of leaves or swinging around on a swing made out of her own hair (it's that long.)

But I able to discover that Rapunzel has lived in her entire tower, ever since she was a little girl, taken care of by her mother who forbid her to ever go outside, being told the world was full of evil people.

Her mother departed earlier in the day to get a special paint for her daughter at Rapunzel's request for a birthday present. Rapunzel's first taste of the outside world came in the form of Flynn, who snuck into the tower in an effort to get himself out of some situation.

Rapunzel promptly knocked him out and when he woke up, she made a deal with him: take her to see the lanterns, and she would return the satchel he was carrying with him that she confiscated earlier when she knocked him unconscious. And she would back home before her mother even knew she was missing.

It does explain why Flynn doesn't exactly seem extremely happy about undertaking this journey. But why does he keep casting fearful glances around the area like he's hiding from someone?

He and the rest of us settle to watching Rapunzel's antics in mild amusement, as she leaps from one spot to another. Every once in a while she'll stop to worry about what her mother would say about her leaving the tower, but then just five seconds later, she's back to cartwheeling in the meadow. Clearly she's not too hung up about it.

Due to Rapunzel running around and frolicking around in nature, that leaves Sora, Riku and I the only people that are available for Flynn to talk to. I'm not sure what to make of him. He seems like a nice guy, a little conceited maybe, but he's not a bad guy, at least I don't think.

"So where are you guys from?" He asks with an inkling of suspicion in his voice. He must still be dissatisfied with the fact that we're tagging along.

"We're from...around," I answer vaguely.

"And where is that exactly?" Trying to keep the existence of other worlds a secret is a lot harder than one would think.

"Oh, you know…"I wave my arm around. "It's—"

A sudden look of horror overtakes Flynn's face before I can make up something else. He's looking somewhere behind me.

"Quick! Get down!" Puzzled, I turn around to see a group of people, soldiers, off in the distance, their eyes scanning the landscape.

I hear quick footsteps and I turn back around to see Flynn's boots in the air as he leaps behind a bush. His head pops up a second later, his eyes wide with fear.

"Hey, get down here!" He whispers loudly to Sora, Riku and I. We all share confused looks before we all decide to humor Flynn and hide behind the bushes with him, keeping quiet. I can hear the distant sounds of Rapunzel laughing as she enjoys her newfound freedom. Luckily she's out of earshot of the soldiers so we don't have to worry about her.

The soldiers mill around for a bit before they keep walking forward, disappearing out of sight behind a groove of trees. Flynn takes a deep breath after they do.

"Whew!" He runs a hand through his hair. "That was a close one."

"Who were those guys?" Sora is the one to ask the question we're all thinking.

Flynn looks just as nervous as he did when he spotted the soldiers. "Oh, you know," he laughs nervously, "just some...old friends..."

Riku blinks at him. "Are you running from the law?"

"No!" Flynn says quickly. "Well...maybe...Listen, let's just get Blondie and keep moving, ok?" His eyes rapidly scan the area to find Rapunzel to take the heat off of him.

He frowns when he doesn't see her at first. "Where'd she go?" He asks out loud.

"Hey guys!" Rapunzel calls out to us, standing in the center of the road.

_How'd she get over there there that fast?_ I wonder to myself. This girl is full of loads of energy.

As we draw closer to her, she points her index finger excitedly at something further down the path. "Look what I found!"

She's found a pub, named...The Snuggly Duckling? Quite an interesting name for a pub.

Flynn seems to recognize the establishment, a smile breaking out over his face. "Ah, the Snuggly Duckling. Perfect. You guys want a bite to eat? Great, let's go!" He doesn't even wait for us to answer. Those soldiers we spotted just now still have him worried and he desperately wants to get inside somewhere so they don't find him.

Flynn opens the door to the pub and my nose wrinkles at the smell. The place stinks heavily of sweat. Man sweat. The patrons all turn to look at us, all big, beefy, men, all of them towering over us, their bodies rippling with muscle. It explains the stench hanging in the air.

Rapunzel is easily terrified by the mere sight of them and whips out her frying pan in front of her, holding it out at arm's length as she stares wide-eyed at the men in front of her.

"Now, now, calm down, Blondie," Flynn says with a charming smile on his face as he follows close behind her. "This is the big leagues we're in. And if you can't handle it here, well, we might as well just head back home."

Someone picks up Rapunzel's extraordinary long hair between his thick fingers. Rapunzel makes a little shrieking noise and quickly darts away, her blonde hair trailing through the man's fingers. "That's a lot of hair," he remarks in an extremely deep voice.

"She's growing it out," Flynn says. He bends over, peering closer at the man's face. "Is that blood in your mustache? Hey look, Rapunzel!" He grins. "There's blood in this man's mustache! That is a _lot _of blood..."

Another patron, a bald man with a thick mustache, stands up from his stool to his full height and stares hard at Flynn, who shrinks back from him. "You look familiar. I know you from somewhere?"

"What? Who me?" Flynn's face is the picture of fear, but he attempts to hide it by flashing a smile. "No, I just have one of those faces." He takes a couple steps back.

"You look awfully like that guy on that wanted sign." He points a finger at a wanted sign posted on a pole that has a hand-made drawing of a guy on it with the word _Wanted _written above it. It's not a perfect drawing, and the artist definitely exaggerated the size of his nose, but it's obvious to anyone who has eyes that the wanted man is none other than Flynn Rider.

"I hear there's a hefty reward for anyone who catches you," the bald man advances towards him. Flynn eyes are riveted on the large axe he's holding.

He holds his hands up in the air. "Hey now, let's wait a minute before we do anything rash..."

Flynn stops as Rapunzel steps in between him and impending jail time. "Stop!" She shouts. "You can't capture him!"

The man isn't deterred by the sight of a petite girl in front of him and his payday. "Oh yeah? And why not?"

"Because I don't know where I'm going and I need him—and them—" She says as she points at Sora, Riku and I with her frying pan, "to take me to see the lanterns. They're all I _dreamed _about forever. And I really want to see them. I mean, where is your humanity at?!"

For a second no one says anything. I'm shocked. Just a second Rapunzel was like a scared little girl as she stepped into the bar. Now she's stepping up to one of the toughest guys.

"Did you say...the lanterns?" The man asks in a softer voice.

Rapunzel relaxes a bit at the change in his voice. "Y-yes?"

He doesn't say anything for a moment and then I'm stunned to see his hardened face break out into a wide grin.

"You know I hear they're really beautiful. I've never seen them myself, but I've heard they're a sight to see."

We all share confused looks. "So you're...going to let us go?" Rapunzel asks hopefully.

"There are royal guards heading this way!" Someone shouts from near the window.

The mustached man has made up his mind. "Follow me," he says in a low voice, motioning us to follow after him.

He pushes down one of three levers on the counter which causes a section of the floor behind the counter to give way, revealing a hidden passageway.

"This will take you guys outside. Go. See the lanterns."

Rapunzel beams at him. "Thank you."

The front door bursts open and we can hear the gruff voice of one of the guards as he demands to know where Flynn is.

"Go!" We crawl down the shaft one-by-one and hurry into a secret tunnel beneath the pub, lit by a handful of torches.

"So Flynn," Rapunzel starts off as she tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, "where are your from?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, blondie, I don't do the whole backstory thing. What I more interested is your backstory, now..."

I tune out their conversation and lean in to Riku. "What are we supposed to do if Flynn gets arrested? We don't know our way around this world. We can't take Rapunzel to see the lanterns."

"I guess we have to hope that Flynn doesn't get captured by guards." Riku's eyes are on his back.

"But—"I pause, listening to the sound of distant footsteps behind us. "Do you hear that?"

Turning around to face the way we came through, we first see the light from a torch against the tunnel wall, and then coming around the bend, the same guards we spotted near the Snuggly Duckling sprinting towards us.

"Rider!" The one in the front shouts out.

Not wasting any time we turn on our heels and race forward as the guards chase behind us. We run outside to see a dam, but we're stopped when we reach the edge of the pillar we're on, leading to a sharp drop below. The soldiers are quick on our heels and they emerge from out of the tunnel before we can come up with another escape plan.

"Who are those guys?" Rapunzel asks of Flynn.

Several Heartless materialize in front of us. Great timing.

They're not Heartless Sora, RIku or I have seen before, but they're definitely Heartless. They're about as tall as Lance Soldier Heartless but burlier, dressed like royal soldiers with breastplates and all, and their attire is colored blue and black. They carry blue swords in their hands.

"Who are they?!"

"They're..."Flynn pauses as he regards the Heartless. "Ok, I have _no _idea who they are."

"Heartless!" Sora takes out his Keyblade. Riku and I follow suit.

"Those are the Heartless?!" Rapunzel exclaims.

"Rapunzel, take cover. We'll handle this."

Rapunzel's long hair definitely comes in handy because she flings it at a overhead beam of the dam, securing it there before she uses her hair to swing herself across to another pillar to safety.

Sora, Riku and I quickly begin taking on the new Heartless. The frying pan that Rapunzel handed over to Flynn before she swung herself to safety also comes in handy because he uses it to attack the soldiers and take them out all with ease.

He even helps out us after he's done, impressively taking out one of the Heartless all by himself.

"Taste my frying pan, you Heartless!" He shouts as he batters one without mercy.

In the middle of fighting one of the soldier Heartless, very familiar deep laughter reaches my ears. Once I slash through the Heartless and send him to nothingness, I peek over the edge to see, Cat Dude on the ground beneath us. Or Pete I should say.

His back is turned towards me and he doesn't seem to have noticed the fight going on above his head. It looks like he's talking to himself.

_What's he doing here? _I frown. The last time I saw him, he ran through a Corridor of Darkness to leave Spira, spitefully telling Sora and I that he would take care of us later.

What business could he possibly have in Corona? He did say he needed Heartless for a Heartless army for Maleficent...

I think I should probably take care of him, but there's no way for me to get down there without breaking my neck. I glance over at Rapunzel and a plan comes to mind.

"Rapunzel!" I shout over to her, grabbing her attention. I point down to Cat Dude. "Can you get me down there with your hair?"

She nods her head in a determined fashion and ties some of her hair around another beam of the dam. She then tosses the end of her hair towards me and I reach out a hand to grab it.

Putting my fear of heights behind me and hoping that Rapunzel's hair will be enough to support my body weight (I think I'm pretty light), I jump off the edge of the pillar and swing through the air.

"Hey Pete!" I shout at the laughing cat who is still having a conversation with himself.

"Huh?" He slowly turns around and only has enough time to look alarmed for half a second before the soles of my feet are planted solidly into his thick body, knocking him backwards.

"Oof!" He falls back with a thud onto the hard ground and groans. I let go of Rapunzel's hair and land squarely on my feet, jumping into a battle stance.

Pete doesn't stay down for long and after a brief struggle, he's back up on his feet with a snarl on his face.

"It's you again!" His eyes flash with anger and annoyance.

"What are you doing here in this world? Do I need to beat you again?"

Pete throws his head back in laughter. "Ha ha ha! Fat chance! I'm going to teach you a lesson this time. Heartless squad! Round up!" He yells just like the first time I encountered him.

But unlike last time, Pete doesn't summon Shadow Heartless. His Heartless squad has gotten a makeover.

If memory serves me correct, at least the memory of reading _The Complete Keyblade Wielder's Guide_, the Heartless I'm up against are Darbkballs. They hover in the air, their blue, jagged, toothy mouths gaping at me.

Pete guffaws with a big, toothy grin, his hands on his sides. "Try this one on for size." He points a finger right at me. "Attack!" He commands his squad.

On cue, all four of the Darkballs open their jaws and rush at me, threatening to chomp on me. I take a quick dive to the right to avoid them.

These kinds of Heartless aren't hard to beat so I'm not really too worried about them. I jump at the one closest to me and take him out with several strikes of my Keyblade before he can regroup with his allies and attack me again.

The others attack me quickly to avenge the destruction of their comrade, which leaves me doing a lot of dodging, but I'm able to cut through all of them.

The last one attempts to hit me by rocketing its body in the area around me, but it's quite easy just to duck and dodge out of the way and strike it when it's done.

The final Heartless defeated, I face Pete. He is furious, his nostrils flaring.

"Urgh!" He stomps his feet like a five-year old having a temper tantrum. "I've had it with you! I am the mighty Pete! I mean nobody, and I mean nobody—"

"Kairi!" I take my eyes off Pete for a second—it's not like he's going to attack me—to see Rapunzel and the others running towards me. I guess Rapunzel managed to swing everyone else across and then swung herself down.

But more than that, I see the dam is about to burst and flood the entire area.

"Come on, we have to go!" Sora calls out. He gives Pete a curious look as he passes by him but shakes his head, deciding there are more pressing matters than figuring out what shenanigans he's up to.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Pete bellows after us. "I said come back here! I'm not through with you!" He stomps a foot angrily from the sound of it.

There's a loud crashing noise behind us and I turn in shock to see that the dam has already burst and a whole flood of waters are streaming rapidly down towards the ground, making their way to us. It only makes is run faster.

"What the...AHHHH!" Pete cries out in terror ar as the waters tumble towards him.

Riku's quick eyes spot a cave opening for us to run to and we sprint like crazy to reach it in time.

When we're almost there, I hear another loud noise, something groaning, followed by a abrupt cracking sound. A shadow partly covers the ground in front of us, and a quick glance behind tells me they if we don't make it into the cave in time, we're going to be crushed by a rock pillar.

The shadow from the toppling rock pilar shades more and more of the ground, but we're only feet away from the cave opening. Just before the pillar falls down in front of the cave, we've just managed to pass through the entrance.

I exhale a deep breathe I had no idea I'd been holding, but I then realize we're not out of the ball park yet.

The cave we escaped to is steadily filling up with water and all I see are rocks and no way out.

Rapunzel desperately bangs her frying pan against one of the cave walls and the rest of us push against the walls too, but nothing is giving way.

We're going to die in here.

xxxxx

ElvenPrincess01: Eh, I wasn't too pleased with how this chapter played out.

Sora: It was fine to me.

ElvenPrincess01: I just wished it was longer. Maybe I should of had you guys start out in the tower.

Sora: You considered it, but decided against it because you weren't satisfied with how some things would've played out. Just make up for it in the next chapter.

ElvenPrincess01: You may be right. I'm probably thinking the chapter is shorter than what is really is. Thanks for reading, you guys! I appreciate your support! Until next time!


	19. Light It Up

Sora: I have a complaint.

ElvenPrincess01: If you came here to ask for more lines, you can forget it. I've already had this talk with Riku.

Sora: That's not it.

ElvenPrincess01: And Mickey wants to appear in the story as well. He wants me to have you guys come across each other in some world or something. I wasn't even planning on him showing up during the world voyage. I might have to say no to him, I can't think of any way to drop him in.

Sora: I said that's not it.

ElvenPrincess01: Well what is it?

Sora: This Vanitas guy...

ElvenPrincess01: Yes...?

Sora: He's...not going to end up with Kairi, is he?

ElvenPrincess01: Why are you concerned?

Sora: *quickly* I'm just wondering. I mean, you haven't really told me how this story is going to end.

ElvenPrincess01: Rest assured, Kairi is not going to end up with Vanitas.

Sora: *sighs*

ElvenPrincess01: She's going to end up with Cloud.

Sora: Cloud?! Isn't he supposed to be with Tifa? And isn't he a bit older than her?

ElvenPrincess01: I'm kidding again, Kairi won't end up with Cloud...She's going to end up with Tidus.

Sora: What?! But he doesn't even appear in the story!

ElvenPrincess01: He will now!

Sora: But—

ElvenPrincess01: Once again, I am kidding...I have decided that...Kairi is going to end up with Riku.

Sora:?!

ElvenPrincess01: Yes, you heard me.

Sora: But-but-but that means—

ElvenPrincess01: Onto to the chapter!

Sora: Wait a minute, what about—

_Previous Chapter _

_I exhale a deep breathe I had no idea I'd been holding, but I then realize we're not out of the ball park yet._

_The cave we escaped to is steadily filling up with water and all I see are rocks and no way out._

_Rapunzel desperately bangs her frying pan against one of the cave walls and the rest of us push against the walls too, but nothing is giving way._

_We're going to die in here._

**Chapter 19: Light It Up**

All attempts to get out of here are futile. The water is up to our waists now, and my mind is running on hyper-speed, racing to try and find a way out of here before we die without anyone knowing we're here.

It'll be a long time before Chip and Dale wonder where we are. And even when they do start looking for us, they would never find us here. Our bodies would never be recovered.

Rapunzel continues to ram her frying pan against the cave wall while Riku goes underwater to search for a way out, any kind of opening. The rest of us push against some rocks.

Riku breaks the surface, shaking water droplets from his silver spikes and coughing. "Nothing. I can't find any opening. I can't see anything."

Flynn grabs his head between his hands. "That's it, we're going to die! It's time for final confessions! My real name is Eugene Fitzherbert!" He blurts out.

Rapunzel is just as delusional as Flynn, though she's close to tears. "Oh, I never should have left home...This is all my fault...I'm so sorry you guys." Tears start trickling down her rosy cheeks.

I gaze at the rising waters that are now near our chests, then around the cave. There are three Keyblade wielders in here, there has to be something we can do. "Isn't there some kind of magic we can use to—"

"Oh of course!" Rapunzel snaps out of her sobbing. "How could I be so stupid?" She slaps a palm to her forehead. "Don't worry everyone, I'm going to get us out of here."

Flynn stares at her in bewilderment. "And just how do you propose on doing—"

"Flower, gleam and glow, let your power shine," Rapunzel sings in a clear voice.

As the words finish their trail off Rapunzel's lips, her already radiant blonde hair begins shining. Like really shining, like the sun.

"Oh my gosh!" Flynn and Sora blurt out in shock. Riku and I are too stunned to say a thing.

The water is almost about to cover our heads. "Hold your breath, everyone!" Rapunzel calls out. Just after we take huge breaths, the water level rises above our hairlines. The luminous light from Rapunzel's locks travels all the way down the length of hair, until we see some loose rocks at the bottom right of the cave. They can easily be pushed away to create an opening.

We swim towards the loose rocks, anxious to escape this cave before our oxygen supply expires. Our hands quickly start pulling away the rocks. One of Flynn's hands breaks through to the outside first, and he pushes against the remaining rocks. The rocks give way under the pressure and we are swept outside into the river.

I don't try and fight the waters that drag me between their watery fingers and then beneath the surface. I just let the current take me where it will. It feels peaceful, being carried along like this. The river flows slowly, comfortably, so much that I could almost close my eyes.

The river carries me gently, until my head breaks the surface. Coughing, I splutter as I heave up mouthfuls of saltwater from my lungs. I see the shore in front of me and the others wading towards it.

Sora is next to me, wading against the current towards the land. I didn't even notice he was nearby. He stretches out a cladded hand to me and I readily grab it as he helps me maneuver towards the shoreline.

"Here, I got you," he says as he helps me up to my feet.

"Thanks," I smile back at him.

When we reach the shore, we collapse onto it, breathing deeply, still trying to come to terms with the fact that we almost met our ends back there. If it wasn't for—

We reach the same train of thought at roughly the same time and turn our heads sharply at the blonde girl.

Rapunzel is busy squeezing the water out of her endless bundles of hair, and doesn't see us staring at her for several long seconds.

"What?" She asks in an innocent voice.

"How'd you do that?" Flynn asks.

"Huh? Oh you mean my hair." Rapunzel straightens up with a smile. "I have magic hair that glows when I sing."

"Yeah, I could see that."

"And it has magical healing properties. A long time ago, some bad people tried to cut my hair off, but"—Rapunzel swoops her hair around one shoulder to reveal a short piece of brown hair in the back of her head—"when it's cut off, it turns brown and loses all its healing abilities." She resumes drying her hair over the river. "That's why Mother has always kept me in the tower, to protect me."

"You mean you never left the tower?" Sora asks.

Rapunzel shakes her head. "Mother forbade me from ever going outside. She says the world is full of dangerous people."

"And...you're going back?" Flynn sounds like he's in disbelief. After everything Rapunzel's experienced, she can't really be willing to go back into isolation for the rest of her life...can she?

"No—I mean—I can't..." She sighs, staring in frustration at the ground. Pascal curls up next to her foot. "It's complicated." She doesn't say anything for a few moments.

"So..."She turns her head ever so slightly at Flynn with a sly grin on her face. "...Eugene Fitzherbert?"

Flynn winces noticeably. "Let's not talk about that. It's a long story."

He makes a show of smoothing out his clothes. "Near-death experiences and"—Flynn shoots a glance Rapunzel's way —"other surprises aside, it's nearly sunset. We should make camp for the night and resume our journey in the morning."

Flynn says he's going off into the woods to collect firework. Riku and Sora accompany him to help, and to be of some assistance in case of a Heartless attack.

Before Flynn leaves, Rapunzel calls out to him. "Yes?"

"I just wanted to say..."She smiles softly. "I prefer Eugene Fitzherbert better over Flynn Rider."

He stares at her for a long moment before chuckling in amusement to himself. "Well, you're the first person who's ever said that." He departs into the trees.

I stay behind with Rapunzel to assist in drying her hair and combing through it. It's best to start on it now so we won't be up all night working on it. Something tells me tomorrow is going to be a long day.

Luckily for us Rapunzel's hair dries pretty quickly, which leaves only the task of combing it. A task that would go much quicker with multiple hands working on it, but the guys are unavailable at the moment.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Rapunzel cheers happily as I run a sparkly blue comb through her blonde hair. Her hair is so soft, it almost feels like silk. I'm almost jealous. "I can't wait to see the lanterns tomorrow!"

"What are these lanterns for exactly?" I ask.

"I'm not sure, but they're only released once a year on a day that just so happens to fall on my birthday. Call me crazy, but...I don't think it's just a coincidence. I think they might mean something."

"Mean what?"

Rapunzel shakes her head, staring at the ground. Pascal is already fast asleep among the blades of grass, his tail tucked in close to his body. "Beats me, but I can't shake the feeling." She suddenly rotates her head to face me and I instantly stop combing her hair as a result.

"Have you ever wondered why you turned out a certain way?" She turns back around. "Like for me, I've always wondered why my hair is like this, why it has healing properties. Mother only told me that bad people tried to take it for themselves. I still have no clue why I'm like this..." She bites her lip, her forehead creased in concentration.

I start to comb her hair again. There's not a single kink or knot in it. The comb glides like butter through it. "I've wondered the same thing. Not about my hair since my hair clearly doesn't possess any magical abilities, but I have wondered about things concerning myself."

"You have?"

"Yeah. Sometimes I wonder why I was made a Princess of Heart."

Rapunzel whips her head around to face me so fast I'm surprised she didn't get whiplash. "You're a princess?!" Her wide doe-like eyes look even bigger right now.

"Uh, not technically. You don't have to be royalty to be a Princess of Heart. You just have to have a heart of pure light without any darkness in it. It's something you're born with."

"If you don't have to be a princess to be a Princess of Heart, then why are you called a princess?"

"I'm not sure." I resume combing Rapunzel's hair once again, lest another interruption prevents us from finishing the task. I can't imagine how she does this all the time. "I'm still trying to figure that one out. There's seven of us in all, but only three come from royalty. Snow White and Aurora are princesses, and Jasmine is the daughter of a sultan."

"Cinderella married into royalty by marrying a prince, and Belle is set to marry one herself." I frown a little. "But Alice and I don't come from royalty at all, and we aren't getting married to any princes any time soon. So it's a huge mystery as to why we're collectively called Princesses of Heart."

"Wow...That is strange," Rapunzel agrees. She giggles just a few seconds later. "But if you really wanted to marry a prince, all you had to do was say so," she teases.

I quirk a eyebrow at her. "Oh, so you want to talk boys? Ok then, what about you and Flynn Rider? Or should I say, Eugene Fitzherbert?"

The blonde attempts to keep her composure, but she can't blame her slightly pink cheeks on natural blush. She shyly tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, averting her gaze. She's so smitten anyone who's half-blind could see it. "What about Flynn and I?"

"You like him, don't you?"

"W-what?!" Rapunzel's cheeks are nearly flushed red. "Don't be ridiculous! He's just helping me to get to the kingdom to see the lanterns so he can get his satchel back as part of our deal. There's nothing between us. "

Rapunzel can't see the suspicious look I'm giving the back of her head. "Alright, if you say so."

"W-w-well what about you?" Rapunzel asks me in a voice that gives away the fact that she's still worked up about my insinuations about her and Flynn.

"What about me?" I ask in confusion.

"Do you like Sora?"

Abruptly, I stop combing Rapunzel's hair, nearly dropping the comb in the process as I stare at the back of her head. "What?" I ask blankly. I wasn't expecting her to throw a question like that at me.

"I saw how he helped you out of the water earlier. And you were all smiling at him. I just thought you two had feelings for each other."

I don't say anything for several seconds, and my silence causes Rapunzel to face me. "Kairi?"

"Uh..." I resume running the comb through her hair. "I think you're mistaken. Sora and I are just friends. We've known each other since we were kids." Even though I can't remember any of our childhood memories together. "There's nothing but friendship between us."

"Maybe you think there's nothing but friendship between you two, but I see something else," Rapunzel sings. I don't say anything. It's not like I can. She won't believe a word out of my mouth.

I decide to change the topic far from romance. "So tell me, how can you heal people with your hair?"

"There's a cut on your right leg. I can demonstrate by healing it."

"There's a cut on my right leg?" I peer down at my leg to see a tiny scrape right above the knee. A rock must have scraped me when I was escaping the cave and I didn't realize it.

"I just have to sing a song. It's simple. I'll show you." Rapunzel turns her body around to face me and wraps some hair around the cut. She clears her throat while I wait for the show.

"Flower, gleam and glow

Let your power shine

Make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine..."

Slowly, starting from the roots, Rapunzel's hair begins to glow radiantly and shimmer spectacularly, like they're encrusted with diamonds. Her eyes are closed as the words flow from her mouth. Her voice is as sweet as honey.

"Heal what has been hurt

Change the fates' design..."

I watch, entranced, as the hair wrapped around my leg starts glowing.

"Save what has been lost

Bring back what once was mine

What once was mine..."

When she finishes the song, the glow in her hair fades away, leaving her with her usual blonde locks. She opens her eyes.

I slowly remove the hair from around my knee to discover that Rapunzel's hair really does have magical abilities. I don't see the cut at all. I rub a finger over the skin for any trace, but it's all healed. It's like I was never hurt.

"Whoa..." I breathe in wonder. Rapunzel's hair is like the potions Sora, Riku, and I carry around. Being able to heal any injury? No wonder bad people tried to come after her. She possesses the elixir of life in the strands of her hair.

She giggles. "I thought you were going to freak out. You took it better than I thought you would." I still stare in wonder at my freshly healed skin.

Soon after, the guys return with the firewood and a campfire is made. After eating a dinner mostly consisting of berries, sleep eventually overtakes us under the twinkling stars of the night sky.

xxxxx

_"Ssh, Selphie!" I whispered to the short-haired brunette who clapped her hands to her mouth, her shoulders shaking a bit in barely contained laughter. "They're going to hear us! If you're going to sneak up on someone, you have to be as stealthy as possible."_

_"Sorry!" She whispered back, her face stretched out in a grin._

_I scowled at her for another moment and turned back around, carefully treading a few steps forward, quietly and softly._

_Anxiously poking my head around the corner of the shack, I saw Tidus and Wakka playing with a blitzball on the beach, no idea they're being spied on. Selphie poked her head out above mine._

_"Water balloons, ready?" I whispered to her as I turned a water balloon over between my fingers, keeping my eyes locked on the unsuspecting targets laughing joyfully. Selphie and I were on a mission of revenge. They had attacked us yesterday with water guns, so it was only fair we returned the favor. _

_Selphie answered my question by lightly tossing a water balloon up into the air and catching it in her hand with a mischievous smile on her face. She nudges our box full of water balloons forward with a foot. "Water balloons ready."_

_"Alright, then. On the count of three. 1...2...3!" Selphie and I jump out from behind the shack, rear our throwing arms back, and let the projectiles fly._

I don't consider myself a light sleeper, but for some reason I am stirred awake by the muted sounds of a nearby conversation.

The campfire is almost out, crackling softly. I see the bodies of Sora and Riku, fast asleep. Flynn is snoring like a bear. In a flash I realize that Rapunzel isn't lying down in her spot near me. And that's when I recognize her voice in the conversation.

The voices are coming from behind me so I'll have to roll over to get a good look at whoever Rapunzel is talking to. I exhale loudly and roll over onto my side, pretending I'm asleep, even closing my eyes in case someone glances at my face. I wait a few seconds and then slowly open my eyes.

It's nighttime, so a canopy of darkness hangs over our camp and the surrounding area, but it's not quite dark enough where I can't make out faces.

Rapunzel is standing near a tree, talking with a curly-haired woman in a red dress and black cloak. If the scowl on her face is any indication, she is pissed. I have a good feeling this is Rapunzel's mother.

"Mother, you don't understand—" Rapunzel is pleading. Her mother cuts her off by firmly gripping her wrist and attempting to pull her with her.

"We're going home, Rapunzel." Her voice is firm and unyielding. "Now."

Her daughter plants her feet down, forcing the two to come to a stop. "But…I've been on this incredible journey and I've seen and learned so much," she smiles in happiness. "I've met someone." She must be talking about Flynn.

"Oh yes, the wanted thief, how lovely," Rapunzel's mother says in a sarcastic tone that shows she cares little for her daughter's recent infatuation. "Now come on, we're leaving."

"Mother, wait! I…I think he likes me," she says quietly, as if she can't even believe it herself. I wait for her mother's response.

"Like you? Why that's demented!" Her mother brushes it off.

"But—"

"It's clear to me that you're still too naïve to be out here. I mean, what would he like you for? You think he's impressed?" Wow. Way to put down your daughter.

"But since you think you're such a clever girl, why don't you give him…this?!" From under her cloak she pulls out the brown satchel that Rapunzel was previously holding onto.

Rapunzel's jaw drops. "How did you—?"

Rapunzel's mother had reached into the satchel and pulled out a fancy and ornate tiara, entrusted with sparkling gems and jewels. It looks like something that was made for royalty.

"This is why he was here. Don't let him deceive you." She lightly tosses the tiara to the blonde who catches it between her lithe fingers. "Give it to him and you'll see.

"I will!" Rapunzel shouts out determinedly. Sora makes a noise in his sleep at the outburst and rolls over.

"Then watch how fast he'll leave you. Don't say I didn't try to warn you. Mother knows best." And Rapunzel's mother swiftly turns around, her black cloak swirling in her stead as she strides off, disappearing into the trees of the forest.

Rapunzel stares after her figure for several seconds before she dips her head a bit to stare at the tiara in her hands, glittering like the sunlight against the night sky.

xxxxx

I go back to sleep shortly after Rapunzel's exchange with her mother. The next thing I know she's shouting in my ear.

"Kairi! Come on! Wake up, wake up, today is the day!" She giggles excitedly before running over to rouse the others from slumber. Sora is yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Come on, today's a bright and sunny day! Let's go explore the kingdom!" Rapunzel pulls on Flynn's arm, who hasn't budged an inch from his sleeping position.

"Five more minutes," he mumbles.

"No! Come on, we have to go now!" Rapunzel pulls on his arm more, desperation entering her voice. Flynn can only swat away her for so long, and he eventually lets out a frustrated groan. He opens his eyes out to the world.

"Alright, alright…I'm up." He doesn't make any attempts to move though.

Nearly twenty minutes later, we're up and heading towards the sprawling kingdom of Corona, contained within a village set in a hill.

Rapunzel happily bounces across the bridge leading into the village. Sora, Riku and I trail behind her, as Flynn tears wanted posters off the bridge with a scowl and tosses them over the edge, keeping a sharp eye out for any guards that may be nearby.

The first thing that's seen after crossing the bridge is a bustling marketplace. Someone plays a lively tune on a fiddle as dozens of people stroll the streets and meander around the shops at every corner. Ducks waddle around, a man hurries past pulling a cart behind him, and women carry baskets at their sides. The fresh scent of hay lingers in the air. It's definitely a day of festivities; purple triangle decorations, banners and more hang above our heads.

However, a busy and festive marketplace is exactly the kind of thing that is going to spell trouble for Rapunzel and her hair.

"Ow! Ow! Sorry!" She stumbles around clumsily as people accidentally trip over the heaps of hair sprouting out of her head. She accidentally careens into a flock of ducks who squawk loudly and take off. The rest of us all work together to grab up the hair, but there's a lot for us to carry, and it'll be hard to properly enjoy the festivities like this.

"This could be a problem," Riku says out loud.

Flynn looks around for a moment before something catches his eye. There are four little girls sitting besides a fountain, braiding each other's hair. He whistles at them to get their attention.

When they look our way, Flynn holds up the bundle of hair in his arms, quirking an eyebrow as if to say, Interested? The way the girls' faces light up, you would've of though it was Christmas morning and they had seen all the presents underneath the Christmas tree.

They quickly get to work braiding Rapunzel's hair, interweaving flowers into it, which is a nice touch.

Two royal guards stride through the marketplace, talking loudly about tonight's celebration. Flynn winces and ducks out of sight, staying down until the soldiers move on, perfectly unaware that a wanted criminal is in the same vicinity as them.

The girls do an impressive job with Rapunzel's hair, doing a very intricate braiding pattern withi it. The braid falls just short of Rapunzel's ankles. No more hair problems for us.

When we're done with that, we get in line at a shop to buy some fruit, since we haven't eaten breakfast yet. While waiting, something distracts Rapunzel, and she drifts out of the line like she's in a trance, her eyes riveted upward.

"Rapunzel?" I frown. She doesn't hear me. I jog after her.

"What is it?" I ask. I look up to see what she's staring at, joining a small crowd of people staring up at a mural of the King and Queen of the kingdom, if the stately crowns placed on their heads are any clue. There's a bright-eyed blonde baby girl in their hands.

There are bouquets placed underneath the mural. A woman is sitting underneath it with her two daughters. "It's for the lost princess," her older daughter says to the younger girl in her arms, as she places a small flower on the ground. "So she can come back home."

I stare back at the mural. I study every detail of the mural, but most importantly the image of the baby girl. She has the same green eyes as Rapunzel. And she already has a full head of blonde hair. The uncanny resemblance to her and Rapunzel is a little creepy.

I suddenly hear Rapunzel's laughter mixed in with the music, and my attention is ripped away as I witness her in the middle of the marketplace, dancing around joyfully as the musicians play a lively tune near her.

What the—When did she leave? She was just here!

"Hey Kairi, let's dance!" Rapunzel exclaims as she skips over to me, grabbing me by my wrists and pulling me towards the center of the marketplace.

"W-w-wait, now?" I say dumbly, almost tripping over my own feet. I'm not really a dancer, and I don't really dance in front of other people, if I can help it.

"Come on!" We're in the center of the marketplace now, surrounded by amused locals and joyful melodies.

"But I...Oh dear," I sigh.

Fortunately, I'm not alone. The blonde pulls in nearby villagers as well, laughing as she invites them into an impromptu dance. She gets Sora in on the action, and even Flynn, though he takes some coaxing. Riku is a lost cause though.

The musicians play louder, infectious laughter and music mingling in the air. I do my best to follow the movements and pick up the pattern of the dance relatively quickly. Soon enough, I have a smile on my face as I prance around to the beat.

Rapunzel and I dance around with one another, laughing breathlessly as we twirl around like a top. We spin around so fast that we lose control and somehow manage to collide into one another and tumble to the ground. It only makes us laugh harder.

Once the dance is finished, which ends after Rapunzel finally runs out of energy, some of the villagers get paint to make drawings on the ground. Rapunzel paints a very accurate picture of a large sun with purple designs bordering it.

The rest of the day is spent eating cupcakes from a pastry vendor, avoiding guards, more dancing, more avoiding guards, browsing books in a library, and other activities.

Rapunzel is still in a dancing mood, and strikes up another dance in the marketplace. Just a few moments after it ends and the audience watching claps, someone shouts out, "To the boats!"

The boats that are to be used for rowing out into the water to get a good look at the lanterns are designed for two people each. Flynn and Rapunzel get in one, and the rest of us fit into another one. Granted, Sora has to perch on the foredeck, but it works.

Under the fading rays of the twilight sky, the five of us row out into the middle of the water and wait for the lantern show. The moment Rapunzel has been waiting for her whole life is soon to begin.

Riku leans back against the boat with a contented sigh, his eyes gazing into the depths of the deep blue water. "Kinda makes you think about when we used to work on that raft, huh?" He asks no one in particular.

"Oh yeah," Sora says. "I wonder what would have happened if we actually finished it and went out on the water and sailed in it. I don't think we would have been able to leave Destiny Islands like that."

"I guess it was a good thing the King crash-landed on the Islands before we set sail," I say as I stare up at the night sky, trying to remember his Gummi ship streaking across the sky like a shooting star, but I come up blank.

The conversation continues until twilight fades away and nighttime is harkened in. Just shortly after night falls, Rapunzel calls out, "Look!"

Looking towards the castle, we see what looks like a lantern steadily rising into the sky, a candle in the darkness. Seconds later more lanterns join it, rising up from other boats in the water. In no time at all, the whole sky is alight with dozens and dozens of lanterns, like stars twinkling in the night sky.

"Wow," Sora says breathlessly, his blue eyes shining.

It's a beautiful sight, and now I see why Rapunzel wanted to see them so badly.

I glance over to her to see her leaning over the edge of the boat, staring up at the sky with eyes full of awe. She crawls into the center of the boat and she along with Flynn release the lantern in their boat to join the others. Following suit, Sora, Riku, and I release the lantern in our boat and watch it travel upwards.

Sora's really into the lanterns, so much that he leans too much over the edge to get a better look at them and falls into the water before I can even open my mouth to shout out a warning. Riku and I have to pull him out, Riku shaking his head.

When the light show is over, Flynn suggests that we row to the shore, and when we dock, I notice that the satchel is in his possession. Rapunzel must have given it to him when we were still on the water.

He leaps easily out of the boat and onto the shore. He runs a hand through his hair. "I'm...going to be right back...There's something I need to take care of." There's a funny look in his eyes that I can't determine what it is exactly.

Rapunzel doesn't seem to notice it though, and Sora and Riku are too busy wringing out Sora's dripping wet clothes. "Ok," Rapunzel says. "We'll be waiting."

Flynn gives her a wry little smile and turns on his heel, striding off. The blonde starts casually chatting up Pascal sitting atop her shoulder.

I'm the only one staring at Flynn's back until he disappears behind the trees. I don't mean to be suspicious of Flynn, but that look in his eyes is making me feel uneasy. What could it possibly mean?

I don't really have anything to do, so I resolve myself to go after Flynn, just to quell my curiosity.

"I'm just going to see if I can find some...blueberries to eat," I tell Rapunzel. "I'm a little hungry. Be right back."

She nods her head, her blonde hair bouncing on her shoulders. "Bring back plenty!"

I walk normally until I make it into the trees, then when I'm sure Rapunzel can't see me any more, I powerwalk to catch up with Flynn. I find him partially hidden behind a tree with his back facing me.

I open my mouth to say something when a noise causes me to stop and frown. Is that a...tinkling noise? It sounds like water trickling onto the ground. It takes me a few seconds to realize Flynn is peeing behind the tree.

Is this what he meant when he said he had something to take care of?

The tinkling noise ceases, and his hands move around a bit in front of him before he steps out from behind the tree. He sees me almost immediately and freezes, like he's been caught in a crime.

"Er..."

"Uh, sorry," I say. "I was just...looking for blueberries."

"Oh! Well I...uh..."Flynn laughs nervously, quickly running a hand through his brown locks. "You...you didn't happen to see what I was just doing, did you?"

"I...didn't see much," I admit.

"Ah! Well that's...good..."

An uncomfortable silence follows. An owl hoots in the distance. "Was that the...thing you needed to take care of?" I have to ask.

Flynn appears somewhat uncomfortable about answering the question. "Yeah..."

There's another uncomfortable silence. Being caught peeling behind a tree by a girl must be really awkward for Flynn. It's a little awkward for me too, having caught him.

"Wanna head back to camp now?"

"Yes!" Flynn says quickly, looking relieved. "Let's do that."

He and I are about to start walking back when a rustling noise sounds from ahead of us. Rapunzel's mother steps out from behind some bushes with a crooked smile on her face.

"Well, well, well, if isn't the infamous Flynn Rider," she says as she saunters forward.

My forehead creases in confusion at the sight of her. "Rapunzel's mother?" What is she doing here?

Flynn looks between the two of us, surprise registering on his face. "This is Blondie's mother? Wait a minute, how do you know Blondie's mother?"

"I overhead the two of them talking last night while everyone was sleeping," I answer.

"Ah, so you know who I am," Rapunzel's mother smiles. "Then let me formally introduce myself." She places a hand on her chest. "You can call me Mother Gothel."

"Ok, Mother Gothel...Uh, what is it that you want?" Flynn asks.

Mother Gothel's smirk grows wider, taking on a more sinister look. "You see, Flynn Rider, this is how it's going to go." She begins pacing slowly, back and forth.

"I'm going to put you on that boat, unconscious," she declares as she points a finger at a boat tucked further down the shoreline, "standing up in front of the wheel like you're steering it. I'm going to go find my daughter and show her you on the water, making it seem like you left her and took the crown with her. She'll be heartbroken, so much she'll return to my waiting arms. The boat will take you right to the castle where the guards will arrest you and throw you into jail. Rapunzel goes back home where she belongs, and everyone ends up happy. The end," she grins wickedly.

"Why are you doing this?" I demand. Rapunzel's mother is willing to break her daughter's heart with a lie just so she can return home?

"You may not know this, but I'm not as...young as I appear. There's a little secret behind Rapunzel's hair. Long ago, a drop of sunlight became a golden flower that could heal decay or any injury. I used that flower to retain my youth, but it was discovered by soliders of Corona and taken back to the kingdom to remedy the sick queen who was soon to give birth. I snuck into the castle to get it back, but discovered something else instead. Rapunzel."

Flynn and I share a shocked look. "You mean...Blondie isn't really your daughter?" Flynn asks.

Mother Gothel laughs, throwing her head back. "Of course not. She's the daughter of the King and Queen of Corona. The Queen probably consumed the flower in a drink, which is why Rapunzel's hair has its magical healing abilities."

Now it all makes perfect sense. "Rapunzel is the lost princess," I say slowly. That's why the baby in the mural in the marketplace looked so much like Rapunzel. It was Rapunzel.

Mother Gothel leers at me wickedly. "Bingo. When I discovered that Rapunzel's hair had the flower's healing properties, I kidnapped her, and raised her as my own daughter in a tower away from the kingdom."

I narrow my eyes at the woman, finally seeing her true colors. "Then the reason you told her the outside world was bad and forbade her from ever going outside was because you didn't want to risk the chance of anyone recognizing her as the lost princess and taking her back to the kingdom. Am I right?"

"Heh." Mother Gothel looks me over. "You're a smart one. I'll need to take you out too so you don't go spilling my plans. I've already blabbed too much."

"And just how do you plan on doing that?"

Mother Gothel is about to respond when she turns her head to the right at the sound of rustling in the bushes. Recognition flashes in her eyes. "Oh good, you're here."

Just when I think I can't be any more surprised than I am now due to the discovery of Rapunze's true heritage, Pete steps out to join us with a wicked grin on his face.

He chuckles softly, his eyes locked on mine. "We meet again, you brat."

"Pete? What are you doing here? Why are you working with Mother Gothel?" I was under the impression he was only in Corona to add more Heartless for Maleficent's army. I didn't think aligning himself with Mother Gothel would help further his plans. Unless there's something else at work here.

"I have my reasons. Nothing you need to worry about. Now be good and stand down." He takes a step forward.

I glare at him. "Not a chance," I retort in a steeled voice. I'm already whipping out my Keyblade, getting ready for any Heartless he might try and throw at me.

He chuckles and snaps his fingers once. Two Heartless bearing resemblances to Crescendo Heartless but with slight differences in color and design appear and blow some sort of purple smoke directly into the faces of Flynn and me.

"What the—" Flynn splutters, beginning to cough. The second I inhale the smoke, I begin a long round of coughing, and I start feeling...woozy.

This isn't smoke. This is poison gas.

I desperately flail my hands in the air, trying to dispel the gas, but it's no use. I've inhaled too much already into my system. Through the haze, I remember I already summoned my Keyblade. I try to think through the drowsiness that's pervading my mind that I need to do some kind of Aero magic to blow the poison away, but I can barely raise my weapon.

My legs waver and I fall onto my knees, my eyes dangerously starting to close. Flynn pitches over onto the ground and doesn't move.

No, you have to fight through it! I shout at myself in my mind. You can't go down here!

Summoning the last bit of strength I have left, I slowly raise my Keyblade up and breathe out in a whisper, "Tor...na..." But it's too little too late, and I'm unconscious before my face meets the ground.

xxxxx


	20. Save The Princess

ElvenPrincess01: Yeah! I made it to Chapter 20 of this story! Woo-hoo! *throws random confetti in the air*

Riku: Once again, I'm surprised you made it this far.

ElvenPrincess01: You said that for Chapter 10. Give me a break, will ya?

Riku: Just saying.

ElvenPrincess01: Anyways, thank you guys for your continued support. I almost can't believe people are reading this—

Riku: I can't either.

ElvenPrincess01: *ignoring* But I appreciate the readership, truly I do. So without further ado, here is Chapter 20, and the last chapter of the _Tangled_ saga. Kairi, since Riku is being a jerk to me today, can you please do the disclaimer?

Kairi: Disclaimer: ElvenPrincess01 does not own _Kingdom Hearts_, Disney, or Square Enix.

ElvenPrincess01: Thank you, Kairi. Let's go!

**Chapter 20: Save The Princess**

_"Ah, Halloween Town," Sora smiled as we walked underneath Guillotine Gate to enter the town. He gazed around the square. "I missed this place." _

_I bent down to adjust my black-and-white thigh-high socks and the black witch hat placed on the top of my head. I stood back up and looked around. "What's with the lights?" Strewn all over the square were flickering lights that resembled the same ones seem during Christmas. _

_The faint sound of bells jingling filled the air. Riku frowned. "What's that?" He looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise._

_Sora looked above. "Look at that!" He pointed._

_Riku and I looked upward to see a sleigh flying through the air, being carried by skeletal-looking reindeer. The sleigh came in for a stop next to the fountain of green water on a ramp made out of wooden planks. An extremely tall and thin skeletal figure dressed in a macabre black suit with white pinstripes stood up from the reigns and turned to us. _

_"Hello there, friends!" He waved a bony hand. "And Merry Christmas!"_

_"Merry Christmas? Don't you mean Happy Halloween, Jack?" Sora asked. _

_Jack hopped off the sleigh, landing gracefully on his pencil-thin legs. "Of course! Happy Halloween from the Pumpkin King!" He suddenly lunged forward at us with a scary face that made us shrink back for a moment. _

_He stood back up. "This year, Halloween Town is going to handle Christmas as well. I just have to find Sandy Claws so I can get his blessing."_

_"Sandy Claws? You mean Santa Claus?" I asked._

_Jack didn't hear me, staring off into the distance. "Oh, I just can't! Could you imagine a Christmas-themed Halloween Town?"_

_We thought about it for a moment. The unanimous answer was, "No."_

_"Well Sandy is in the lab working on something that no self-respecting Sandy Claws can do without. It should be finished by now. Would you like to come see it?"_

_Glancing at each other, we all shrugged. "Sure, why not?" I said._

_"Excellent! Let's go!" _

_Riku stared after Jack's back as Jack strolled to Doctor Finkelstein's lab, a spring in his step. _

_"Why do I feel like this is a bad idea?" He asked no one in particular. _

xxxxx

What feels like an eternity later the sound of birds chirping wakes me up, and I can feel sunlight warming my face. My eyes flutter open to view a sunny, cloudless sky. It's morning.

It's morning...And I'm not on the ground anymore. I'm standing up.

I look down to see a heap of rope constricting my arms to my sides and tethering me to a thick tree. I struggle against my confinement, but I can barely move a muscle. The rope's too tight, and it's pressing into my skin. On top of that I'm still feeling a little woozy from the poison gas last night.

Oh great, I think to myself. I'm tied up. I wonder how...

With a jolt, I quickly scan my surroundings. Flynn is nowhere to be found. And neither is Pete or Mother Gothel.

I gasp. "Rapunzel!" I get no answer. The only thing I hear is birds chirping.

Wait a minute, if Mother Gothel did send Flynn to jail and take Rapunzel back with her, then where are Sora and Riku? They should have been able to stop her and Pete.

I'm about to call out again when I hear weak moaning from my right. "What the...? How'd I get here?" A familiar voice asks. I know exactly who it belongs to.

"Riku?"

"...Kairi? Is that you? Where are you?"

"I'm on the other side of the tree. We can't see each other, but I'm to your left."

"Where's Sora?"

"He's..." I drift off. Where is Sora?

"Sora? Sora?" Nothing. "Sora!" I yell his time. He has to be nearby. I pray he's not asleep, or it will be nearly impossible to wake him up.

A loud moan sounds from my left, then the sound of someone smacking their lips. A few seconds later, I can hear Sora's voice. "What the...What's going on?"

I breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness, you're alright."

"Kairi? Kairi, is that you? Where are you, and why am I tied to a tree?"

"We're all tied to the same tree," Riku responds.

"But how?"

"It must have been Pete," I growl. He must be trying to prevent us from following after him and another Gothel and rescuing Rapunzel.

"Pete?" Sora sounds confused. "Pete did this?"

"You mean you didn't see him?"

"The last thing I remember is Riku and me drying off my clothes. Then some Heartless came out of nowhere and we went into the forest to defeat them. Then this other Heartless came out that blew some kind of purple gas in our faces, and the next thing I know, I'm here."

"Those Heartless that blew gas into your faces came from Pete. He's working with Mother Gothel."

"Who?" Riku asks.

I take a deep sigh. "There's something I need to tell you guys..."

I recount the whole tale that Mother Gothel said to me the night before, about Rapunzel's real heritage, her secret plot, her surprising alliance with Pete, everything.

"Wait, so Flynn's in jail and Rapunzel is back in the tower?" Sora asks to clarify.

"Exactly."

"Oh man..." He sounds upset. "We only left her for one minute. I didn't think anything would happen to her..."

"It's not your fault, Sora," I say. "I shouldn't have left her to go after Flynn when he said he had business to take care of in the forest. I thought he was up to something but he was really..." I trail off, remembering the awkward situation from last night when I caught Flynn peeing behind a tree. "...doing something else."

"But if you hadn't gone after him," Riku says, "we might not have known what happened to Flynn and Rapunzel."

"Good point."

"Ok I get why Rapunzel would believe her mother when she said Flynn abandoned her due to the boat, but what about us? Did she really think we abandoned her too?"

"Her mother probably made up lies about us too," I say. She didn't put us on the same boat as Flynn, so she couldn't have said we ran off with Flynn. Maybe she said we ran off by ourselves.

"Well, we definitely need to rescue Flynn," Riku says. "But we also need to rescue Rapunzel. First, let's get out of here. Can either one of you summon your Keyblades?"

I attempt to summon mine, but my arms are so constricted against my body that it's impossible to do so. Even if I do summon my Keyblade, it will undoubtedly nick my skin. "No...These ropes are too tight."

Riku grunts. "Same here."

"Me too," Sora says.

"What do we do now?" I ask.

"Hmm...Well I could produce fire from my hand to—"

"You can produce fire from your hand?" I interrupt Riku.

"Oh yeah, Keyblade wielders don't always have to use their Keyblades to perform magic. Sometimes you can use your hand as a conduit. Takes a lot of practice though. Anyways, I could produce fire from my hand to burn the ropes, but the palms of my hands are facing me, so I'll just end up burning myself."

I sigh, leaning my head back against the tree and closing my eyes. This is turning into a real disaster. The three of us are stuck tied to a tree with no conceivable way out while one of our friends is unfairly in jail and the other one is locked up in a tower with a woman she thinks is her mother but really isn't, and is using her for the magical healing properties her hair provides.

"Now what do we do?"

"Well I doubt anyone is going to pass by here, so calling for help is out of the question. Maybe we should—"

Riku doesn't get a chance to finish whatever he was going to say thanks to the appearance of one of those royal soldier-looking Heartless we encountered while running from guards out of the secret tunnel from The Snuggly Duckling.

"Oh no..." I whisper. I'm completely defenseless. I don't have my Keyblade, and I can barely move. I'm a pig on a platter, waiting to be eaten.

"What? What is it?" Riku asks in a sharp voice. He must not be able to see the Heartless from where he stands.

I wince and close my eyes as the Heartless rears back its arm and swings its sword at me. The next thing I know, there's a slicing noise, and I can feel the rope encasing me sliding down. I open up to see it lying in a neat bundle at my feet. There was so much rope that the Heartless couldn't even touch me. I smile in victory.

It readies another attack, and I duck under it. I stand up and slash at the Heartless a few times. It stumbles back as it disappears into darkness.

"Need a little help?" I grin as I stand in front of Riku. I take my Keyblade and slice through the ropes entrapping him. I do the same for Sora.

"How'd you get out?" Riku asks as he rubs his wrists.

My grin grows wider. "A Heartless was so nice enough to cut me loose."

"Ah, feels good to be able to move again," Sora smiles as he swings an arm around. "Thanks Kairi."

"No problem."

"Now, let's go rescue our friends," Riku says.

"Yeah, but how? We're stuck here. And Flynn's locked up in a prison cell and the tower is a good distance away."

As if on cue two large chameleon Heartless pop up on our right. They're slightly smaller than a Stealth Sneak or Veil Lizard Heartless; their bodies are dark red and their claws are orange, as well as the spikes protruding from their back in a perfect line. Their eyes bulge out, pale yellow with tiny black pupils.

Riku grins, his white teeth flashing. "And I think we've just found our mode of transportation."

I give Riku a double-take, and then jump out of the way as one of the Heartless charges at me. "You want us to ride Heartless?" The Heartless definitely have speed on their side, but how can someone ride them? Who doesn't control them like Pete?

"No, Sora and I are going to ride the Heartless." Riku nimbly jumps out of the pathway of the other one. "You take one of the boats and rescue Flynn."

I was just about to offer to go save Flynn, but how Riku and Sora can expect to ride two Heartless back to the tower is a mystery to me. I trust Riku's judgment though. I give him a sharp nod. "Got it. Be careful."

"You too," he shoots back at me. "Don't get caught."

While Sora and Riku attempt to get onto the backs of the Heartless, I race back to the boats, finding them still waiting at the shoreline. I push one out into the water and hop into it before it can sail off without me. I pick up an oar and hurriedly row my way to the castle. Time is of the essence.

When I make it to the other side, I dock the boat at the pier and jump out. I hope castle security is slack because I have no idea how I'm going to pull this off.

_If you're going to sneak up on someone, you have to be as stealthy as possible. _I remember what I told Selphie before when we were attempting to sneak up on Tidus and Wakka and pelt them with water balloons in revenge.

_Ok Kairi, be stealthy._

There are two guards guarding the main entrance into the castle. I'll have to try and find another way in.

I creep around the castle, searching the structure for any hidden passageways, but I don't see anything. This castle was built without any weak spots.

I hold a hand above my eyes to shield my eyes from the sun as I peer upwards at the top of the castle. There may be a secret way into the castle up there.

I can't stand heights, but I'm not going to be able to scale the castle any other way. And the guards aren't going to let me inside just because I ask them to.

Resolving myself with a sigh, I walk forwards to the edge of the castle and grab onto it, pushing myself up. The columns are easy for me to climb over which makes the process of scaling the castle a little easier, but that doesn't do a single thing for my nerves. It'll be really bad if I lose my grip and go tumbling off the edge.

I climb onto the top of a small minaret and hoist myself up. There's another small minaret nearby, and the window is partially open. I've find a way inside.

I've come out in what appears to be a sitting-room. The king and queen stare out at me from a picture on the far wall. A grand chandelier hangs from the ceiling. The furniture is exquisitely furnished, and a beautiful gold-adorned arch frames the entrance to the room.

If I had the time I would gaze around at how detailed and lovely everything in this room is, but I don't have the time.

"Where would the prison cells be?" Exiting the room, I creep alongside the walls, keeping my eyes peeled for soldiers. I don't see a single person, which should probably relax me, but it has the complete opposite effect on me; I'm tenser than ever. The tension could be cut with a butter knife.

I hear footsteps coming down the hall and a young-looking guard marches into view. I duck for cover behind a column and hold my breath until he passes by. When I can't hear the sound of his footsteps anymore, I sneak back out and continue on my mission.

What I wouldn't give for a map of this place. I have absolutely no idea where I'm going, and the longer I'm here, the greater the chance of exposure. I only have to dodge out of sight a few times to avoid guards, but I can't keep this up for long. I need to locate Flynn fast.

By a stroke of luck, I end up finding the prison quarters after taking a right turn and heading now a few narrow corridors. Joy washes over me when I see iron-hard prison bars. No guards in sight however. Security must be really lax.

I tip-toe past downtrodden prisoners, too busy staring sullenly at the ground to notice my presence, take a left turn, and keep going until I find Flynn's cell.

He's pacing back and forth in his cell, nervously running his hands through his hair. He pauses to look outside the window. He must be worried about Rapunzel.

Well he doesn't have to worry anymore. Because I'm busting him out of here. "Flynn!" I whisper and lightly tap the prison bars.

Flynn freezes for a moment, then spins around, an astonished look on his face.

"Kairi! W-w...How'd you get here?!" He stammers in surprise.

"No time to talk," I say quickly. "Hang on; I'm going to get you out of here."

"And how do you propose on doing that?"

"With this." Taking out Destiny's Embrace, I point it at the lock on Flynn's door. A single beam of light comes out of the tip and shoots into the lock. Flynn's eyes widen in amazement as the prison door pops open.

It only takes three large strides for him to cross his cell and push his way out, the door creaking slightly. He smiles crookedly at me. "Nice."

"Now let's go save Rapunzel." I turn back the way we came.

"Where are Sora and Riku?" Flynn questions as he falls into step next to me. Out of the corner of my eye I notice some of the other prisoners staring up at us in shock, most likely wondering how I was able to free Flynn from his imprisonment.

"They're on their way to the tower," I answer. "We have to go catch up with them."

"Alright, let's..." The words die on Flynn's lips when we exit the prison and find ourselves face-to-face with several guards who are trying to enter the prison. Oh crap.

The one in front, whom I recognize as one of the guards that chased us out of The Snuggly Ducking, snarls at us. His nostrils flare in rage. "Ryder!"

"Time to go!" Flynn cries out, and wheels back around. "Kairi, this way!" We run back into the prison, running past the cells as the guards shout from behind us to stop.

I follow Flynn as he leads us out of the prison and into a part of the castle I haven't been to before. We outrun the guards behind us thanks to a couple sharp turns down some corridors, and keep running until we get to the courtyard. We're forced to come to an abrupt stop when we see dozens and dozens of royal guards pouring down the stairs opposite us.

"Uh-oh," Flynn says, backing up a bit.

It's a sea of red as more and more soldiers wearing red jackets enter the courtyard and dash down the staircase. An idea comes to mind but I'm a little hesitant to try it out on real people instead of Heartless. Still, the number of options Flynn and I have at this moment are very slim, especially with the guards drawing closer and closer to us. And it's not like the attack is really going to hurt them.

I jump in front of Flynn and summon my Keyblade, earning a curious look from him. Pointing my Keyblade at the guards closest to us, only several yards away, I yell, "Tornado!"

Instantly a huge gust of wind sends the guards flying, lifting them off their feet and causing them to crash into their comrades behind them, creating a heap of flailing arms and legs.

I send another attack at more approaching guards, continuing to do so until I can cut a clear pathway for the two of us to dart through.

"We need to find a way to reach Rapunzel's tower!" I have to shout over the whooshing noise of a Tornado I just created. With that last spell, I cut down the last opposing soldiers and Flynn and I can now safely exit the courtyard amidst heaps of moaning bodies.

"How about a horse?" Flynn suggests as we come across a stable with several horses inside, free for the picking.

I stop in front of them. "Great! I can't ride a horse though..."

Flynn grins at me. "Luckily for you, I can. Let's go!" He picks out a nice white horse and frees it. He hops up on its back with seemingly zero effort.

Hearing a loud clamor behind me, I look behind to see that some of the guards have already risen to their feet and are sprinting towards us.

I sharply turn my head back around. "Yeah, let's go!" I grab Flynn's outstretched hand and he helps me onto the horse behind him. He pulls on the horse's reins and the steed neighs loudly before taking off, clip-clopping across the cobblestones.

The horse carries us out of the castle, through the marketplace, over the bridge, and into the forest. Flynn beckons the horse to go even faster, the animal grunting in exertion as we traverse the forest. He leans over, his eyes focused forward.

I don't have any memories of riding horses, but something about riding horseback feels very familiar to me. Probably a lost memory that I need to trudge up. But something else is bothering me.

"Hey Flynn? Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"What's the deal with you and the crown? How'd you even get in the first place?"

"The crown belonged to the lost princess, or I should say Rapunzel, originally. After her disappearance, the king and queen hid the crown in the castle and had it guarded by several guards. I snuck in to steal it, thinking I could get some money off of it. I was chased by guards and then I accidentally found Blondie's tower, deciding to store away there until the coast was clear. But she knocked me out and took my satchel away that had the tiara in it. When I woke up, she made a deal with me that she would give me back my satchel if I took her to see the lanterns."

I nod my head, finally understanding the whole story. Now I understand the conversation Rapunzel had with Mother Gothel two days ago. Mother Gothel was trying to convince Rapunzel that Flynn was only in it for the tiara and couldn't care less about her. If only she knew the truth.

"And when you held up your part of the bargain, she gave the satchel back to you," I say. "But she thought you abandoned her in the forest and didn't even want to bother taking her back home...If I can even call it that." It'd more fitting to call it a prison. And Mother Gothel would be the warden.

"Exactly."

Flynn and I continue the remainder of the journey in silence, our minds too focused on rescuing Rapunzel to make any more attempts at conversation. I hope Sora and Riku made it to the Tower ok.

The horse we're riding rushes underneath the curtain of leaves that lead to the valley where the tower is located, and Flynn guides the horse over to the tower. We hop off the animal and Flynn dashes over to the turret, hurriedly starting to climb it.

I climb up after him, steeling myself not to look down lest I have an acrophobia-induced panic attack. When we get near the top, I start to hear voices.

"...I didn't mean tor it to come to this, but you left me no choice." That's Mother Gothel's voice.

Flynn climbs through the open window of the tower, and then helps me inside after him.

Mother Gothel is on one side of the room with Rapunzel gagged and tied up next to her. Pete is standing in front of her, his hands on his wide hips.

On the other side of the room is Sora and Riku, their Keyblades drawn as they clash against a team of Shadows that Pete has presumably summoned. Launching myself into the fray, I rush over as I summon forth my own Keyblade, slicing through the Heartless like they're sheets of paper.

Not too long after I join in, the last Heartless is vanquished, leaving the room free of Heartless. Pete growls after suffering another defeat.

Mother Gothel notices this too, focusing her eyes on Pete. "Well? What are you going to do now? It's all over if they manage to escape, you know."

Pete starts chuckling, the chuckles growing steadily in crescendo. He's oozing off confidence now, which means he has a trump card to play. "Don't worry. I have it all under control." He brings his fingers to his lips and lets out a shrill whistle.

A violet-colored scorpion-like Heartless with dark indigo-colored pincers scuttles down the opposite wall across from Pete. Mother Gothel watches the creature with intrigue and curiosity in her eyes. She pulls a squirming Rapunzel farther against the wall, to keep way clear of harm's way.

The Heartless approaches Sora, Riku and I with intent to kill. It raises its deadly stinger at us, which has a glowing yellow face on it. Without any warning it shoots forward, its legs scuttling across the floor.

It attempts to take us out early with a quick jab of its stinger. We dodge the attack, and the Heartless' appendage strikes the floor when it misses. Its stinger is back up in a heartbeat.

It settles on Riku as its first target and scuttles at him. Riku leaps out the way. I rush at the creature from behind, at its blind spot, but it whirls back around like it sensed me, forcing me to back up a few steps.

The first minute of the battle goes like this. The creature charges at us and we jump out of the way. It's hard to get some attacks on him when he keeps moving around.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Flynn inch his way over to the other side of the room, slowly, so as not to draw attention to himself. When he tip-toes past an unsuspecting Pete, he increases his strides as he makes his way over to Mother Gothel and Rapunzel.

Before I can see anymore, the scorpion focuses its beady eyes on me, as well as its stinger. I roll to the side just half a second before the stinger plunges into the ground where I was just standing. Before the scorpion can get its appendage back in the air, I take a stab at the deadly weapon.

The creature backs off, roaring in pain. Sora stabs it from behind and it roars again. I'm about to go in for another attack when I see Mother Gothel brandishing a knife at Flynn, who has his hands in the air. Pete has noticed Flynn and scowls.

"Oh no you don't," he growls as starts to stomp over.

"Oh no you don't," I say, and rush after him.

"You better move away or I'll stick this knife into you," Mother Gothel threatens as she waves the knife back and forth in a hand to emphasize her point. Her eyes flicker to Pete. "Pete!"

Just as Flynn turns around, Pete's massive fist collides with his jaw and he sends him flying against the wall. Flynn slumps to the floor like a rag doll.

"_Eugene_!" Rapunzel screams against the gag in her mouth. She squirms even more.

I dart to the right of Pete. Before he can even utter the words, "You brat," I'm saying, "Aeroga!"

A powerful gust of wind shoots out of my Keyblade and sends Pete flying backwards. He lays sprawled on the floor on his back, moaning weakly.

Mother Gothel looks at me with fearful eyes, now that she knows what I'm capable of. She's worried that what I did to Pete will be the same thing that will happen to her.

She grasps the knife in front of her with both hands and points the tip at me. "I'm warning you," she says in a shaking voice, "I have this knife, and I am not afraid to—"

At that moment, Rapunzel rises to her knees and knocks her body against Mother Gothel's legs with a grunt. Mother Gothel stumbles and topples over onto her side, the knife clattering onto the floor. I quickly pick it up before she can reclaim it.

Flynn is slowly starting to get back to his feet. He massages the back of his head with a moan. When he sees me and the knife I have in my possession, a frantic look enters his eyes like he's no longer hurt. "Quick!" He says. "Give me the knife so I can free Rapunzel!"

I hand the knife over to him as Mother Gothel scrambles to her feet. She watches with wide eyes as Flynn cuts Rapunzel's restraints loose. She looks over her shoulder at Pete, who is still flat on his back. Her backup is down for the count. This battle is over.

She turns back around to glare at us. "You think this is over? You think this is the end? Well you're wrong! I will never stop hunting down that girl! She is the key to my immortality, and I will not rest until I have her hair" Her eyes flash angrily and her chest heaves up and down.

Flynn looks between her and Rapunzel. A strange look enters his eyes, a look I can't quite place. "Then you can have it." And Flynn takes the knife and slices Rapunzel's hair off just above her shoulders.

"No!" Mother Gothel screams, taking one desperate stride towards Flynn.

Almost immediately, the hair left on Rapunzel's head turns dark brown. "W-what?" She gasps quietly as she touches a hand to her hair in disbelief. The flowing golden locks Flynn just cut off rapidly start turning brown, the color racing down the length of her hair.

"No! No! No!" Mother Gothel frantically cries out as she desperately gathers up the blonde bundles of hair that turn brown in her hands.

"No!" She almost yells at the hair, her eyes flashing madly. "This can't be happening!"

A hideous transformation overtakes the woman. Her skin starts aging rapidly, to the point where she resembles an extremely old woman. Her once-luscious black hair becomes white and pale grey. She notices her wrinkled, bony, and ancient-looking hands. She screams and scampers over to a mirror, shrieking when she views what she has become. Her fingers grasp her withered face.

"No!" Her voice also sounds like a very old woman now. "My youth! My immortality!"

Pete has risen to his feet by now and is staring at the spectacle, slack-jawed.

Mother Gothel stumbles around as she draws the hood of her cloak over her head to hide her face from the world, her cries of anguish piercing the air.

As she stumbles around the room, she trips over a loose floorboard and staggers backwards towards the open window. Before she can regain her balance, and before Rapunzel can open her mouth, her so-called mother falls out of the window with one last shriek. She shrieks all the way down, then there's nothing. Not a sound. I don't hear a thud.

"Is she...?" Flynn asks quietly.

I sprint over to the window and peer down at the ground. All that's left of Mother Gothel is her black cloak, laid flat among the grass. There's no body in sight. She must have aged so quickly she shriveled up to nothing. She must have hid the magical flower Rapunzel's hair came from for a very long time.

All I see is her cloak," I answer Flynn. "I don't see her at all. I think she shriveled up."

I hear the scorpion Heartless roaring. I almost forgot about it after I left it to save Flynn. I turn to see it trying to stab Riku with its stinger, but he blocks it with his Keyblade, pushing against it with a grunt. The two of them push back and forth. When Riku gains the upper hand and drives the scorpion back, he looks over his shoulder at Sora.

"Sora!"

Sora sharply nods his head once. "On it!" He backs several paces and then takes a running leap at the scorpion. He grips the handle of the Keyblade with both hands and angles the sword downwards as he descends upon the creature, shouting, "Take this!"

Riku leaps out of the way as Sora plunges Kingdom Key straight into the scorpion's abdomen. The creature roars in fury, louder than ever before, and stumbles around. Sora removes his weapon from its body and does a perfect backflip, landing right next to Riku.

After one last roar, the creature lurches onto its side and its body disintegrates into wisps of darkness.

"No!" Pete bellows loudly. "No, no, no, no, no, no, _no_!" He stomps one of his feet with each word. "You brats ruined everything! You destroyed one of my prized Heartless! And that girl's hair is gone! I was going to use her to keep Maleficent young forever!"

So Pete did come to Corona to add more Heartless to the witch's army, but when he met Mother Gothel he thought he could also kidnap Rapunzel and use her hair's healing properties to keep his master young and healthy forever.

But there was no way for him and Mother Gothel to both keep Rapunzel for themselves since they both reside in different worlds, so a betrayal by either one of them would have happened shortly after defeating the rest of us if they could.

Pete raises an arm behind him and a Corridor of Darkness appears. "This won't be the last time you see the mighty Pete. I'll have my revenge yet!" And he spins around and runs through the portal.

"Eugene, are you ok?" Rapunzel asks as she bites her lip nervously.

Flynn rubs the back of his head, wincing. "Nothing a good ice pack can't fix."

"How about a potion?" I offer.

"A potion?"

I reach into my pouch and pull out a tiny bottle with green liquid inside. "Here, drink this. You'll feel much better."

Flynn looks unconvinced, but he accepts the bottle and tips it to his lips. Rapunzel watches curiously.

When Flynn finishes drinking the potion, he lets out a hearty sigh and grins. "Whoa! This stuff is amazing!" He rubs the back of his head in wonder. "I don't even feel anything anymore. Where'd you get this stuff from?"

"It's...something I found in my travels." I couldn't say I got it at a shop in a world called Hollow Bastion. The golden rule for Keyblade wielders: Don't let denizens of one world know about the existence of other worlds. A bit hard to do at times.

"Oh Eugene, I'm so glad you're ok!" Rapunzel rejoices as a radiant glow lights up her face.

Flynn flashes a crooked smile at her, reaching a hand up to brush the tips of her short brown hair which has been cut into a bob. "You know, I've always preferred brunettes."

She giggles, and then quickly wraps him up in a hug. When they pull apart, she kisses him on the lips, a kiss he is all too happy to reciprocate.

He smiles a lopsided smile up at her when they break away. "Come on. Let's take you back home. Your _real_ home."

xxxxx

It turns out that Rapunzel figured out she was the lost princess of Corona a while ago in a vision. When she confronted Mother Gothel about it, Mother Gothel reluctantly told her the truth. When Rapunzel attempted to run away, Mother Gothel tied her up with plans to move her somewhere else where no one could find them. She definitely wasn't counting on Sora and Riku showing up before they could leave.

It's quite funny, but Sora, Riku, and I almost forgot about finding and sealing the Keyhole in all the drama that unfolded today. Good thing we remembered before we left this world.

After some searching, we find the Keyhole peeking out from behind a lopsided stone on one side of the tower.

"Here Kairi, you can take this one," Riku says.

Recalling the actions he and Sora did to close up previous Keyholes in our adventures. I take out my Keyblade and aim it directly at the Keyhole. In typical Keyhole-sealing fashion the tip of my Keyblade lights up and shoots out a single beam of light at the Keyhole. The Keyhole lights up for a moment, signaling that Corona's Keyhole has been sealed away.

"You sure you guys don't need anything?" Flynn asks when we emerge into the forest. Birds chatter loudly in the trees above our heads.

"No, I think we'll be fine," Riku answers.

Rapunzel smiles warmly at us. "Take care!" Pascal chitters something in his language. "And thanks for everything," the former blonde adds. "Don't forget about us!"

"We won't," Sora smiles at her. "Good luck with everything!"

After the goodbyes are done, we Keyblade wielders depart to the Gummi ship.

One crazy adventure is done with. What will the next one be like?

xxxxx


	21. Author's Note

Dear Readers

I am soooo sorry for not updating _Forever Destiny_ much sooner. The last chapter was put up at the end of August and I have not updated since. I never meant to take a hiatus for so long.

I WILL be continuing the story. I repeat, i WILL be continuing the story. It's just these past several months have been so crazy. First I was suffering from really bad writer's block that persisted for months, then I became borderline depressed, then I became bogged down in work from my internship and school, then I graduated this past May from college (woo!) and then I was like "what do I do with my life?" _Forever Destiny_ unfortunately slid down to the bottom of the list of my priorities.

But things are finally settling down, and I miss working on the story. I have so many great ideas for upcoming chapters and I really need to get the ball rolling.

I will be updating very soon, possibly next work, who knows, I may even be able to update tomorrow depending on how fast I finish chapter 21 (which turned out a lot different from what I originally planned, but I like this new direction).

So until then, enjoy your summer and be on the lookout for the next chapter. ElvenPrincess01 signing off!


	22. Catch Me If You Can

ElvenPrincess01: Hey guys, I'm baaaaaaack!

Sora:...

Riku:...

ElvenPrincess01: What?

Sora:...

Riku:...you know it's been like 10 months since you've updated, right?

ElvenPrincess01: Yes, I'm well aware. You read my Author's Note, didn't you? Plus I see you guys all the time. You knew what was going on.

Riku: Well yeah, but it's been a little boring around here with no story going on.

Sora: Yeah, and I wasn't getting paid for those 10 months you were inactive! I had to sell some of my stuff at a pawn shop to get some cash in my pocket.

ElvenPrincess01: Yeah, yeah, cry me a river. I'm putting you back to work now, so you can quit your complaining.

Sora: That is all I ask for.

ElvenPrincess01: Plus I'm killing you off in this world.

Sora: What? But you said I was important to the storyline! You can't kill me off! I'm a main character!

ElvenPrincess01: Main characters die in fiction all the time. Don't worry; I'll give you an honorable death.

Sora: But ElvenPrincess01—

ElvenPrincess01: Just kidding! I said before I wasn't going to kill you off. I mean it.

Sora: Whew…

ElvenPrincess01: …or do I?

Sora: !

ElvenPrincess01: On to the story! I don't own Disney, Kingdom Hearts, or Square Enix! Don't sue me! And enjoy the chapter!

xxxxx

_Previous Chapter_

_Recalling the actions he and Sora did to close up previous Keyholes in our adventures. I take out my Keyblade and aim it directly at the Keyhole. In typical Keyhole-sealing fashion the tip of my Keyblade lights up and shoots out a single beam of light at the Keyhole. The Keyhole lights up for a moment, signaling that Corona's Keyhole has been sealed away. _

_"You sure you guys don't need anything?" Flynn asks when we emerge into the forest. Birds chatter loudly in the trees above our heads._

_"No, I think we'll be fine," Riku answers._

_Rapunzel smiles warmly at us. "Take care!" Pascal chitters something in his language. "And thanks for everything," the former blonde adds. "Don't forget about us!"_

"_We won't," Sora smiles at her. "Good luck with everything!"_

_After the goodbyes are done, we Keyblade wielders depart to the Gummi ship. _

_One crazy adventure is done with. What will the next one be like? _

**Chapter 21:Catch Me If You Can**

"I still don't see why I can't drive…"

"My life feels threatened every time you sit behind the wheel."

"I can drive the Gummi just fine!"

"We almost hit an asteroid when you drove to Montressor!"

"Yeah! Almost! I told you, I had it under control!"

I glance amusedly at Sora and Riku as they bicker over Sora's driving skills for the nth time. Even nearly 20 minutes after we left Corona and resumed our journey through space with Riku at the helm, he and Sora were still arguing.

I was in my usual seat, attempting to take a nap, but unfortunately Sora and Riku noisy bickering prevented me from doing so. Now I had to entertain myself by listening to their argument.

"Why is that you crashed the Gummi ship three times?" Riku asked.

"I only crashed it once," Sora says.

"It was three times, Sora."

"I only remember once."

"You only _want _to remember once."

"Guys, guys," I interrupt, trying to keep a smile off my face at their antics. "Let's just—"

A loud beeping noise goes off in the cockpit, interrupting me. There's the sound of static over the loudspeakers and then the loud and clear voice of Chip.

"The Land of the Dragons is nearby!"

Sora's face immediately transforms from mild irritation to beaming excitement. His back-and-forth with Riku is all but forgotten now. "Great! I've been wondering what Mulan and Mushu have been up to lately."

We slowly descend upon a huge, snow-capped mountain, far as I can see. It's just snow, snow, snow.

Sora parks the Gummi ship inside a cave, and then we get out.

As soon as the freezing cold weather hits my skin, I immediately shiver. I vigorously rub my hands up and down my forearms in a desperate attempt to warm myself up.

Even though Sora is more clothed than I am, he's still shivering somewhat.

However, Riku doesn't appear to be shivering at all, despite the fact that he's wearing a sleeveless shirt. Goosebumps should literally be swarming his arms now.

"Wait a minute, why did we decide to park the ship on the mountain?" Riku asks no one in particular as we stare around at endless piles of white, powdery snow.

"Well it's not like we could park the ship in the village and draw attention to ourselves," Sora responds as he places his hands behind his head, leisurely walking ahead.

"Good point."

"Sora! Riku! Kairi!" A young woman with silky black hair that just brushes past her shoulders runs in our direction. .

Sora and Riku immediately recognize her, but thanks to my memory loss, we might as well be meeting for the first time. I have a feeling this might be the Mulan Sora mentioned earlier on the ship.

"Hey Mulan!" Sora grins happily like he's greeting an old friend he hasn't seen in awhile.

"What are you guys doing here?" Mulan asks. With her lovely heart-shaped face, I find it a little hard to believe that she masqueraded as a man to take her father's place in the army like Sora told me before. He did tell me that when the three of us first meet Mulan outside the camp I was the first to realize she was actually a woman. Female intuition, I had said.

"We were kinda in the neighborhood and we thought we would drop by for a visit," Riku answers.

"What are you doing in the mountains?" Sora asks Mulan.

"I've been tracking a certain person. I don't know who he is but I think he might be an enemy spy."

"What does he look like?" Riku asks.

"That's the thing; I don't know. He's cloaked in all black and I can't see his face." Mulan frowns, her forehead creasing. "I've been tracking him all day but every time I think I got him, I lose sight of him...I'd ask Shang to help me but he's helping the Emperor with a task."

"Maybe we can help you look," Sora says. "We have a better chance of finding him that way."

"Really? That would be great!"

I survey the mountain around us. Like I said before, it's massive; searching it will be no easy task. "So where should we start?"

"Hmm..." Mulan thinks about it. "Kairi, you and I will head west, Sora and Riku, you guys head east. Do not engage the enemy if you find him. Understood?"

"Understood."

xxxxx

"Wait...You mean to tell me that you fell down a flight of stairs, bumped your head and lost your memory...

"Uh-huh..."

"And this...Vanitas guy, who you seem to have fought once in the past, just left you lying at the bottom of the stairs, even though he said he and his Master needed you for something."

"You're getting it..."

"And...you woke up in a world called Spira?" The confusion in Mulan's voice is hard to miss.

"Bingo."

Mulan scratches her head. "But that doesn't make any sense though. If you were needed for something, why didn't they take you right then and there?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out! It doesn't make any sense! And, I don't know…" I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear when a cool wind blows through. "I just have this…sinking feeling that something terrible is going to happen. And what makes me even more afraid is that I'm expected to be involved in it some way."

Mulan smiles as she places a hand on my shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "Hey. Everything's going to be fine. You're a good warrior, you can protect yourself. Besides, you got Sora and Riku. They'll watch your back."

I smile back. "Thanks."

It's then I remember Mulan and I are supposed to be searching for the cloaked stranger.

"You see anything?" I ask Mulan as I survey the snowy landscape. A guy in a black coat against white snow? He shouldn't be too hard to find.

"Hmm, nothing over...wait, what's that?"

I turn around to see Mulan peering off into the distance. Our mystery man is has been spotted.

"Yes, that's him alright," Mulan says. "Come on, let's see what he's up to."

"Right."

I jog lightly over the snow, ice being crushed beneath my sneakers as I follow behind Mulan. Her dark eyes are set, her breathing low and constant, and her small body is perfectly hunched over as she creeps beside the mountainside. I can tell she's an experienced tracker.

The hooded man hasn't noticed us. After a couple minutes of tracking him, he turns left and disappears behind a side of the mountain.

"There's a dead end there," Mulan informs me.

Half a minute passes and the mystery man doesn't reappear.

"Looks like he's not coming back out."

"Maybe he's searching for something," I guess.

"Then let's go find out what."

The two of us continue to creep alongside the mountainside until we reach the end. We press our back against the rocky surface for a few seconds.

"Get ready," Mulan whispers.

I summon my Keyblade and Mulan takes out a sword. .

"1...2...3!"

On the count of 3, the two of us jump out into the open with our weapons brandished in front of us.

The stranger is standing still, his back facing us.

"Show yourself!" Mulan shouts.

He doesn't say anything.

"I said show yourself!"

A few more seconds pass. Mulan tightens her grip on her sword. A peaceful resolution may be out the window at this point.

Just as Mulan opens her mouth to speak a third time, the cloaked man very slowly turns around to face us. He doesn't say anything and makes no move to approach us.

"Remove your hood at once!"

The cloaked man doesn't remove his hood. My blood runs cold as I stare at two arrowguns pointed at Mulan and I.

"Look out!" I immediately hit the ground as two shots are fired.

The bullets hit the ground in front of Mulan and I and create small explosions, sending snow into the air several feet and flakes into my eyes and hair.

Mulan coughs a couple times as she rises to her knees.

When I regain my vision, I look up to see the hooded stranger, who is _suddenly standing right in front of Mulan and I_. Before I can even breathe a word, he raises up his right arm and knocks Mulan out cleanly with a dull thunk of his arrowgun. Mulan's body crumples back to the ground.

I stare up in horror at the gunman. I can't see his face at all, so I can't hazard a guess at what he's thinking or looking at.

Why isn't he moving to attack me?

"Well, well, well..." He finally speaks as he puts away his arrowguns and places his hands on his hips. His voice is laced with humor. "I didn't expect to find _you _here, princess."

Oh, great. It's just like Vanitas all over again. He expects me to remember him because we had one small fight with each other.

Wait a minute...

"D-Did you just call me a princess?"

"But of course. You're Kairi, one of the Princesses of Heart."

"How do you know that? How do you know my name?"

The hooded stranger lets out a menacing laugh. "Why _wouldn't _I know that? Let's just say _we _know more about _you _than _you _know about yourself."

I can feel shivers running down my back. I don't like where this is going.

"W-What are you talking about? You don't know anything about me."

"Oh? And what gave you that idea? Your forgotten memories?"

I start gaping like a fish. "You...How did you..." It's starting to make sense now. "You're working with Vanitas, aren't you?"

"I guess you can say that. We are working for the same person."

"The Master? Who is he? I want information." I was so close to getting something out of Vanitas. The identify of this "Master" has been bugging me ever since Sora, Riku, and I left Hollow Bastion.

The hooded stranger snorts. "You think I'll tell you? Just like that? As if!"

Now I'm starting to get annoyed. Mulan was just knocked out by this guy, and I am getting a little tired of these games these cohorts are playing with me.

Eyes narrowing, I stand up and point my Keyblade at the stranger.

"I want information. And I'm not going to hesitate to fight you for it." It's already bad enough I lost my memories. Now I have to deal with a shady faction who wants me playing a pivotal role in their plans?

The stranger laughs again, louder this time. "Ooh, I see someone has the angry look down!" He laughs again, his body shaking.

And now he's mocking me. Great.

"Look kid, I would love to tell you everything about our grand master plan but...my hands are tied. Plus it would kinda ruin the surprise, you know?"

"I don't care, I—"

"You've already seen the Master before."

I blink, taken aback. "Wait, what?"

"When you fought little Van in Traverse Town, you saw the Master's face. At least that's what he said."

I'm speechless.

"Looks you got some remembering to do. As for me, I have a mission to be getting back to." A Corridor of Darkness is right behind him.

"What mission?" I ask when I'm able to speak again.

"Once again, my hands are tied. That's confidential information, kiddo. Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about." Easy for him to say.

He starts backing into the Corridor, waggling his fingers at me. "Be a good girl now!" And he completely disappears into the Corridor, the swirling portal of darkness fading away after his departure.

I hear faint moaning and my mind is instantly taken back to Mulan. I'm at her side in a heartbeat.

"Mulan! Are you ok?"

She winces and her eyes flutter open to rest lazily on me. "Kairi?" Like a lightning bolt ran through her body, her eyes snap open and she sits up almost immediately. She rubs her head as she winces at the sudden motion. "Kairi, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Mulan looks around. "Where did the hooded man go?"

"He...disappeared."

"He disappeared? He knocked me out and then...left?"

"Not exactly. He kinda...said some stuff to me before leaving."

"Stuff? What kind of stuff?"

"...I think it's best if Sora and Riku hear this at the same time too..."

xxxxx

"…and when I asked him what his mission was, he said it was 'confidential information" and he couldn't tell me. Then he left through a Corridor of Darkness. After that, Mulan woke up and we came back here." I finish relaying the recent events of what happened to Mulan and I to Sora and Riku. Mulan and I rushed to find them to tell them everything that happened.

"Did you get a look at his face?"

"No...He never took his hood off, and I didn't recognize his voice."

Riku frowns and stares down at the pure white snow beneath our feet as he ponders over my words. My latest encounter with one of the lackeys of the mysterious "The Master" has left us all even more confused. It's like the more information we get, the more questions we have. We're getting nowhere it seems.

"There's nothing more we can do here," Mulan finally says as she absentmindedly rubs the side of her head she was struck on. "He's probably long gone by now. We should—"

All of a sudden the ground beneath us starts rumbling like crazy, like there's an earthquake. The tremors nearly take us off our feet.

"What the—?" Sora begins to say.

With a resounding boom, a hulking creature bursts out of the side of the mountain, sending huge volumes of snow skyward. The creatures soars into the air before it spreads its wings out and bellows a deafening roar.

I've never seen the creature before. But I know exactly what it is.

"Heartless!" Riku shouts.

The Heartless looks like a large blue dragon, with a long, twisted tail and numerous yellow spikes dotting its back. At a closer look, I realize its wings aren't really wings but actually long hands with some fancy-looking webbing in between the fingers. Six cymbals line its underside. The eyes gleam yellow like only a Heartless can, but this one has blue-green eyebrow-looking things above its eyes. Two red, bent horns stick out from its head.

The creature hovers in the air for a few moments before it breezes away towards the city.

Mulan gasps. "It's heading for the city! We have to stop it!"

With adrenaline injecting our legs, we race down the mountain and to the village, huffing and puffing, but not daring to rest for a single moment. A Heartless of that size is a major threat, especially since the people of the city can't defend themselves against something like that.

The doors to the palace are closed. "Open up!" Sora yells as he beats against the ornate gateways with both hands.

"Hey guys!" Mulan calls out. She's standing in front of a column. "Over here!"

In a single-file line we climb up the large column to get inside the palace, coming out among the rafters overlooking a long hallway.

After we jump down, Mulan runs ahead of us as she leads us to a set of double doors, pushing them open.

The giant Heartless is waiting there in the courtyard to greet us, its ugly maw right in our faces.

It flies away as we run after it, circling the general area a couple times, its massive wings beating the air.

After it completes another turn around the courtyard, the Heartless returns its attention back on us. It twists around once before barreling dangerously fast at us. The four of us flatten ourselves to the ground before it can get to us, missing us by mere inches.

"So...what's the game plan?" I ask when we stand up. The Heartless lets out another deafening roar as it circles around once more.

"We're never going to able to defeat it it keeps flying around like that," Mulan says. "We need to get on its back and take it down that way."

I sigh. "I was afraid you were going to say that," I muttered. Heights and I don't mix well. In fact, we don't mix at all.

When the giant, flying monstrosity flies towards us one more time (how many times is he going to keep this up?), we dodge beneath its body as it hurtles over our heads. Then, we start running for his extremely long tail.

Sora takes a running leap and jumps effortlessly onto the tail first, pulling me up behind him. Riku hopped up right behind Sora and lends a hand to Mulan.

I keep a firm grip on the Heartless' body as do my best not to look down and pretend that I'm not hundreds of feet in air, and the wind blowing my hair around my face is just an illusion.

The four of us get to work attacking the Heartless' body, hitting his hide, his jagged spikes, anything we can find.

When I deliver a resounding hit to one of the spikes, the Heartless bellows like an angry animal, causing me to flinch. Its speed increases.

"Hang on!" I hear Riku shout over the whooshing of the air in my ears.

I grab onto the spike I was just attacking moments earlier, wrapping both my arms around it tightly.

The Heartless swoops through the air like a speeding bullet, and it takes everything I have not to fall off, tightening my grip on the spike. I clench my eyes shut tightly and try my best not to cry out in panic and fear. It was already bad enough being up this high in the air; now I'm being taken for a ride.

"Everybody, quick! Jump off!"

I open my eyes to discover the Heartless lowered its descent and is now flying feet above the ground. I was too busy trying not to die I didn't even notice the change in altitude.

I free my arms and jump of the Heartless after the others. Unconsciously, a sigh escapes my lips when my feet are returned back to solid, unmoving ground.

The Heartless ascends a little into the air, then twists around several times, its wings spread out, before it dives at us.

"Sora!" Riku shouts.

"On it!"

Sora nimbly slides underneath the Heartless and proceeds to deliver a series of quick but powerful strikes on the enemy's tough hide, blitzing around like a ninja. He finishes off the combo by striking the Heartless upside his head with his Keyblade, stunning the beast.

The rest of us don't let the opportunity pass us by, and we rush forward to lend Sora a hand in attacking the creature.

Unfortunately, the creature only remains stunned for several seconds before it comes to and sends a blast of wind at us that knocks us onto our backs.

The Heartless flaps its majestic wings, climbing rapidly into the air, then pauses mid-air. Its wings still swing back and forth at its sides.

Then, it loudly claps the six cymbals located on its underside together before it rushes at us, and a series of bombs drop down from its body.

"Look out!" Mulan cries out.

The bombs are easy enough to dodge, but the destructive explosions it leaves behind are enough to keep us on our toes.

Once the last bomb detonates, we're not even granted a brief respite, because the Heartless launches a gigantic beam of lightning at us from the horns on his head, forcing us to roll out of its trajectory. I can hear the lightning bolt whizz through the air.

"Geez, this thing doesn't stop, does it?" I wonder out aloud.

Instead of attacking us again, the Heartless goes back to circling around the courtyard around our heads. Maybe it's developing a battle plan of its own to defeat us.

"Yeah...It'd be nice if we could do a Trinity Limit," Riku says.

I turn my head to look at him. It's my first time hearing those words. "What's a Trinity Limit?"

"It's a special attack you, me, and Sora developed with the King's help. It's called a Trinity Limit because it requires three Keyblader users to pull off. It allows us to combine our magical power and unleash a devastating attack on an enemy."

I can't help but gape at him. "And why am I just hearing about this now?"

"Because you haven't gotten your memories back," Sora responds, "which means you've forgotten how to use it. It's a hard move to learn, and RIku and I didn't want to teach it to you so soon."

Well that does make sense. Still, I'm a little peeved at being left in the dark about this. What other abilities did I possess that I just couldn't remember how to do?

"If that's the case, then we need a new strategy," Mulan says. "It's coming back towards us!"

True to her word, the Heartless had already stopped circling the courtyard and was making a mad dash at us, yet again. It was starting to get old. We dropped down onto our stomachs to avoid the creature.

"If only there was a way to keep this thing grounded," Riku sighs as we rise to our feet. "We're never going to able to defeat if it keeps flying around."

The Heartless circles around yet again.

"Then we'll just have to ground it," Mulan says simply. From the determined look on her face, I can tell she's got a plan. ""We need to get back onto the Heartless and attack its it won't be able to fly anymore. Then, while it's on the ground, we can take it down."

And just like that we're atop the Heartless' back once more, and I'm silently praying I don't fall off. Once I steady myself I join the others in attacking the left wing of the Heartless. Ignoring the beast's angry roars, we assail its wing until it droops down, useless.

The Heartless roars loudly, louder than ever before, and I know we just made it really angry. Like a fire has been lit underneath it, It uses its one good wing to propel itself into the air.

"Hang on to something!" Mulan shouts, and we each jump to the nearest spike and hang on for dear life as the Heartless twirls through the air. It knows what we're attempting to do and it's trying to shake us off.

The spinning it does is worse than the last time we were on its back. It's spinning through the air much more erratically, jerking us around. It's a miracle I don't get whiplash from all this motion.

After a while of this, the Heartless stops spinning around, either tired, dizzy, or both. Even though my head is doing somersaults it seems, we don't hesitate to continue our plan, and proceed to attack the creature's sole working wing.

Eventually, both wings are out of commission, and the Heartless can no longer keep itself in the air. It hurtles towards the ground where it collapses with a deafening thud, a cloud of dust rising into the air upon impact.

The Heartless seems to have lost its will to fight. It barely moves as we continue our assault, not letting up for a second.

Enough hits later, we send the Heartless dissipating into darkness, fading away into nothingness like it never existed.

"Mulan!" A muscular-looking man with jet-black hair tied up in a topknot bolts across the courtyard to us, the red cape on his uniform flapping behind him. He pauses to take a breath when he reaches Mulan, only having eyes for her. This must be Shang. "Are you ok?"

Mulan smiles up at him, a radiant glow lighting up her face. "I'm fine."

The couple (are they a couple?) share a moment, staring lovingly into each other's eyes. They could have probably stared into each other's eyes forever if the moment wasn't broken by Riku's coughing.

Mulan and Shang ripped their gazes from each other, the former blushing slightly, her cheeks turning pink.

"Let's...get back to the palace."

xxxxx

"So you three are moving on?" Mulan asks Sora, Riku, and I as we trudged back towards the mountains.

"Yeah," I say. "I wish we could've stayed longer. It feels like we've just got here."

The Emperor is sending Mulan and Shang on a mission, an apparently lengthy mission the three of us don't exactly have the time to help out with, even though we would love to spend more time catching up with Mulan and Shang. Something about escorting the Emperor's three daughters somewhere?

"Well you're free to come back anytime you want," Mulan says with a grin. "Until then, take care!"

"You too!"

The three of us wave at Mulan before we turn back into the direction of our Gummi ship.

"You know we never did find that black-hooded man," I say aloud.

"I know," Riku says. He doesn't say anything for a few moments. "Call me crazy, but...I think he may have called out that Heartless we just fought to throw us off his trail."

"You think so?" Sora asks.

"I don't know. I'm just taking a guess. But something tells me we haven't seen the last of him."

_Something tells me we haven't seen the last of him._ I dwell on Riku's words as we climb into the Gummi ship and start it up.

I'm also dwelling on what the mystery man said to me earlier.

_When you fought little Van several weeks ago in Traverse Town, you saw the Master's face. At least that's what he said...Looks you got some remembering to do._

He couldn't be even more right. I do have some remembering to do.

Because whatever plan Vanitas, the mysterious hooded man, and the even more mysterious Master are cooking up, my memories may hold the key to stopping it.

xxxxx

Sora: You didn't kill me off in this chapter! *does a happy dance*

ElvenPrincess01: Yeah, I was just messing with you...You're getting killed off in the next chapter.

Sora: What?!

ElvenPrincess01: Just kidding! Anyways, it feels great getting back into the swing of things, you know, updating stories and all. I almost forgot how much fun I have working on _Forever Destiny_. It's one of the few things in my life that keeps me sane.

Riku: Try not to be so dramatic.

ElvenPrincess01: Ok fine. But seriously, thank you guys for putting up with me. I want to take the time to thank **Scarlett-95 **for the wonderful review you left for the author's note I wrote. I will do my best not to stress myself out. Thank you again for your kind words. :)

Sora: I still can't believe you added you-know-who into this story.

ElvenPrincess01: What's so hard to believe?

Sora: He can be a little annoying at times. And why must he say "as if" all the time?

ElvenPrincess01: It's his catchphrase. You know, like Naruto's "Believe it?"

Sora: I still don't like it.

ElvenPrincess01: You don't have to like it, you just have to deal with it. And even though everyone most likely knows who the mysterious man is (ooh la la!), I'm just gonna pretend like you readers don't. You know, like wrestling. Everyone knows it's fake, but the wrestlers have to act like it's real.

Sora: Yeah! So we're not going to tell you that the mysterious man's name starts with an X and ends with an r.

ElvenPrincess01: ...why do I even bother...Anyways, thank you guys for reading this chapter!

Sora: Please don't wait another ten months before you update the story.

ElvenPrincess01: I'm not! I am a little stuck on what world I want Team SRK to travel next, but it won't take _that _long to choose a world and write up the next chapter.

Sora: I'm holding you to your word.

ElvenPrincess01: Sayonara everybody!

xxxxx


	23. For The Sake Of Science

ElvenPrincess01: You know, I just noticed something.

Riku: That you haven't updated this story since June?

ElvenPrincess01: …

Riku: …

ElvenPrincess01: …well _yes_, that's true, but there's something else I noticed.

Riku: What is it?

ElvenPrincess01: This is chapter 22 of the story…

Riku: Uh-huh…

ElvenPrincess01: And I'm 22 years old.

Riku: …

ElvenPrincess01: See what I did?

Riku: I have no comment.

ElvenPrincess01: I see you're just being a hater today.

Riku: Does that mean you're going to wait until you're 23 before you publish chapter 23?

ElvenPrincess01: Of course not! Why would I do something like that for?

Riku: Because you left the story on a virtually unexplained hiatus for four months?

ElvenPrincess01: It was because of writer's block and other things! You know that!

Riku: Isn't there something you're supposed to be saying?

ElvenPrincess01: What?

RIku: *sighs, clears throat* ElvenPrincess01 wants to thank **MackBlade **for catching her error back in chapter 6 when she mistakenly said the next step from Fire was Firaga. She apologizes for her mistake and for not taking the proper time to do research. Tsk tsk, ElvenPrincess01, you're slacking on your job.

ElvenPrincess01: Hey, I am not! And I know, I kind of goofed up on that part, but—

Riku: Kind of?

ElvenPrincess01: _Anyways_, I know I goofed up on that part, but I sort of made the magic system like that to simplify things. And apparently, I don't know the magic system for Kingdom Hearts as well as I thought I did. I completely forgot about Firaza.

Riku: *shakes his head in shame*

ElvenPrincess01: Don't shake your head at me! It was just a simple mistake. I'm only human, you know.

Riku: Whatever you say…

ElvenPrincess01: Where's Sora? He's supposed to do the disclaimer for the chapter.

Riku: I honestly don't know why you keep asking him to do the job.

ElvenPrincess01: I don't know why either…I guess I'll have to do my own disclaimer. I would ask you but you're just being mean to me today.

RIku: Honesty is the best policy.

ElvenPrincess01: _Anyways_, I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or Disney. So please don't sue me. Please don't, I just graduated from college and I haven't found a job yet. Onto the story!

_Previous Chapter_

_The three of us wave at Mulan before we turn back into the direction of our Gummi ship. _

"_You know we never did find that black-hooded man," I say aloud. _

"_I know," Riku says. He doesn't say anything for a few moments. "Call me crazy, but...I think he may have called out that Heartless we just fought to throw us off his trail." _

"_You think so?" Sora asks. _

"_I don't know. I'm just taking a guess. But something tells me we haven't seen the last of him."_

_Something tells me we haven't seen the last of him. I dwell on Riku's words as we climb into the Gummi ship and start it up. _

_I'm also dwelling on what the mystery man said to me earlier. _

"When you fought little Van in Traverse Town, you saw the Master's face. At least that's what he said...Looks you got some remembering to do."

_He couldn't be even more right. I do have some remembering to do. _

_Because whatever plan Vanitas, the mysterious hooded man, and the even more mysterious Master are cooking up, my memories may hold the key to stopping it. _

**Chapter 22: For The Sake Of Science**

"Tell me again why we let you drive?" Riku asks our bushy-haired friend sitting in the driver's seat of the Gummi ship.

"Because I'm an excellent driver?" Sora says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Since when?"

And there off. _Here we go again_, I think to myself. I really need to invest in some reading material to distract myself from their incessant arguing. Or learn how to drive the Gummi ship myself so I can take the wheel once in a while.

Amid the argument going on between my best friends, a very familiar beeping noise goes off in the cockpit.

"Look out, guys!" Chip shouts. "There's a wave of asteroids heading towards you!"

"What?!" Sora, Riku, and I voice at the same time.

And then I see them, very clear through the Gummi's windshield. A multitude of asteroids are blitzing through the air, some the size of my head, others almost as big as the ship.

"Hang on!" Sora shouts. He grips the steering harder between his hands as he swerves the ship to the right to avoid a hulking asteroid.

Sora's not as bad a driver as Riku claims. He's able to zip through most of the debris without any problems, swerving left and right at a moment's notice, though he does cut it close a few times.

Riku is leaning forward in his seat, shouting out commands for Sora to follow like he's the captain of the ship. He's the oldest out of the three of us so it makes sense.

I'm tightly gripping the sides of my chair, staring with wide eyes at the projectiles in our way. _If one of these asteroids hits us_… I think to myself as a large asteroid whizzes past us.

Another hulking asteroid flies towards us, and Sora swings the ship to the left, narrowly avoiding a frontal collision.

But there's another asteroid, one that none of us saw coming because it was right behind the one that almost crashed into our ship just now.

Before any of us can open our mouths to say _Look out _to Sora, the asteroid strikes the right flank of the ship, jolting the shop violently. Sora does his best to keep the ship steady, and I can see beads of sweat dripping down the side of his face as he wrestles with the steering wheel.

Just a few seconds later, Dale's voice sounds over the loudspeaker. "The right engine is out! The right engine is out! We need to make an emergency landing!"

"How far to the nearest world?!" Sora asks.

It's a few moments before Dale replies. "Twilight Town is to your right!"

Sora sharply turns the Gummi ship 90 degrees to the right, not wasting a moment. He drastically increases the ship's speed, barreling forward at rocket speed. In any other situation, RIku would complain about Sora driving too fast, but this is a different situation.

Half a minute later, the familiar setting of Twilight Town comes into view, the landmark clock tower becoming bigger and bigger as we race towards the town.

Instead of parking the Gummi ship in the woods like he did the last time he and I were here, Sora makes a beeline for what looks like a wide alley in the middle of the town. It's perfect for hiding away the ship.

The ship scrapes the ground a bit as Sora lands it, and we all hurriedly escape the slightly smoking vehicle. We wait patiently for the Chip and Dale to check the damage done to the engine.

"Well, the engine is fried," Chip starts, "but it can be replaced. Dale and I brought a spare engine in case of situations like this."

We all collectively breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's going to take some time though," Dale adds.

"What do we do now?" I ask. I already know the answer since we're stuck here in Twilight Town without any way of leaving.

Riku sighs. "Guess we'll just have to entertain ourselves around town until Chip and Dale finish." He addresses the talking chipmunks. "We'll be back in a bit, ok?"

"You got it!"

It doesn't take long for Sora to take the opportunity to stuff his face full of sea-salt ice-cream, much to Riku's disgust. I don't blame Sora; this stuff is too good to pass up.

"I don't understand how you two can eat that stuff," Riku says, his upper lip curled back like he's smelled something revolting. "It's disgusting."

"It's delicious," Sora counters before taking a lick.

"If you say so…"

Sora is about to say something, but he suddenly points at something behind Riku and I. "Guys, look!"

Riku and I turn around to see a little girl being chased by a Shadow Heartless into the hole in Tram Common that leads to the woods.

I almost spit out my ice cream. "Heartless!"

Riku instantly charges forth. "She needs help, let's go!" Sora and I are right on his heels, Sora stuffing the rest of his ice cream into his mouth before he goes into game mode.

We crawl through the hole into the woods. I don't see the girl anywhere. Just an endless line of towering trees.

"Where did she go?" I scan my surroundings, trying to catch a glimpse of the sky blue dress the girl was wearing.

"Over there!" Sora points. The Heartless is chasing the girl up a path. The three of us make quick pursuit.

After we make it through a line of trees, we step out into a small clearing. Beyond the clearing is a brick wall with a finely wrought gate in the middle of it, which is wide open. A large and fancy mansion looms beyond the brick wall.

We chase the Heartless and the girl through the gate and the courtyard full of statues and shrubbery.

However, we lose sight of her when we push open the double doors leading into the mansion.

At the end of the foyer is a large transparent window. There are two staircases at opposite sides of the room that most likely lead to different wings of the mansion. Two unicorn statues are perched in front of each staircase.

The girl nor the Heartless are nowhere to be seen.

"Where did she go?" I ask out loud. Did she make up one of the staircases that quickly? Or…did she already get turned into a Heartless? I shake my head, shaking that alarming thought out of my head.

"Let's split up," Riku says. "She couldn't have gone far. I'll take the door here"—Riku points at a door to the left of the foyer"—Sora, you take the left staircase, and Kairi you take the right."

None of us waste a moment to agree. We all run off into our instructed directions. I climb the stairs like I'm running for my life, and fling open the door that it leads up to the room. The door swings shut behind me.

I'm standing in what appears to be a library. Rows and rows of bookshelves stretch towards the ceiling and nicely furnished furniture adorns the room. A table with two chairs sits in the center of the room.

Even though I don't see the girl or the Heartless, I still closely search every square foot of the room. There may the slight chance that the girl may have escaped her pursuer and is hiding away, waiting for someone to rescue her. But the room is completely quiet. I'm the only one here.

"If she's not here, then she's probably on Sora or Riku's side," I say to myself. "I should go find them and…" I trail off when I turn around towards the door and see Sora standing there.

"Sora?" I hadn't even heard him come in.

"Wait a minute, if you're here, then that means you didn't find the girl in your area either. Well unfortunately, she's not here. Come on, let's go find Riku."

I only take one step forward before Sora throws a hand out in front of himself to stop me in my tracks. I frown at him. "Sora, what are you doing?"

I stare at him, trying to figure out why he's stopping me and why we're not running to find Riku. There's an unreadable expression on his face, which is starting to unnerve me.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Sora doesn't say anything.

_Something's wrong_, a voice in the back of my head warns me. I can't think of what's making Sora act like this.

"Sora, please tell me what's going on, we have to— "

I'm cut off when Sora summons his Keyblade into his hand.

"What are you doing?" With a jump, I look over my shoulder. "Is there a Heartless behind me?!" There's not a single Heartless in sight among the endless rows of bookshelves.

Then why in the world is Sora summoning his Keyblade now?

Before I can wonder even more, Sora charges at me, his Keyblade lancing towards my midsection. I quickly roll to the side and then leap to my feet and quickly face Sora. Dumbfounded, I stare at him, who's now standing where I just was seconds ago.

Sora tried to attack me. Sora _just_ tried to attack me.

What is going on?!

"Sora, what the heck is wrong with you?! Are you insane?!"

Sora just stares at me with that same unreadable expression. This can't be real Sora.

"Your friends have already been captured," he says in a low voice. But that's not Sora's voice I hear. It's way too deep and too serious-sounding to have come from Sora. But I definitely saw his mouth moving along with the words.

"Why are you talking like that, Sora?"

"I have things to do so I'm going to have to make this quick."

Before I can say anything, there's a sharp pain at the back of my head, and stars explode across my vision.

_Not again_, I think to myself, and I'm unconscious before my head meets the floor.

My eyes flutter open slowly, and my mind registers a faint whirring sound in the background like there's a machine running.

I snap to and quickly look around to see where I am at.

I'm in a large room with blinding white walls. There's a large machine with a computer to my right, and a man with long, dirty blonde hair wearing a lab coat is standing in front of it.

As I attempt to move, it's only then that I realize I'm being restrained. Black leather straps from what looks to be a gurney hold me down, from my chest down to my legs. I'm locked inside a giant, white pod-like structure.

When I struggle against the straps binding me, the man at the computer turns around to face me.

It's an older man with bright green eyes, but there's a sinister look behind them that frightens me a little.

"Oh goodie! You're awake!" His voice sounds devilishly humorous as well.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"Now, now, we'll get to that later." He walks over to me. "How are you feeling? I hope Zexion didn't hit your head _too_ hard…" He peers closely at me, his forehead crinkling. "I'd hate for him to mess up a good test subject…" He mutters to himself.

Test subject? I wave that aside for the time being. "Zexion?" I ask confusedly.

"My assistant. He's the one who cast the illusion of your spiky-haired friend in the library and knocked you out.

I _was_ right. That wasn't the real Sora.

"Where's Sora?" I demand. "Where's Riku? Where are my friends?"

The man grins wickedly at me. "Instead of worrying about your friends, you should be worrying about yourself…and what I'm going to do to you." The sinister look in his eyes becomes even more sinister.

"What are you planning on doing to me?"

"You're going to be my next test subject, of course. Why else do you think I lured you here?"

I frown at him. "What are you talking about?"

The blond-haired man laughs dryly. "You and your friends thought you were chasing a girl who was being hunted down by a Heartless…" His grin grows wider, spreading across his face. He looks more and more like a mad scientist. "But in actuality, you were just chasing one of Zexion's illusions!"

My jaw drops, which causes the man to laugh wickedly at my reaction.

"You fell right into our trap! It couldn't have turned out any better."

"Why are you targeting me and my friends?"

"Didn't I just tell you?" The man sounds impatient. "I said I need test subjects."

"Just…who _are_ you?"

"My name is Even." He does a little bow. "I'm a scientist."

"Ok, _Even_, can you please just let me and my friends go?"

Even shakes his head. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that. I'm a little short on test subjects at the moment, and you three are all I got…Well you three and Xion."

"Xion?" Even appears to not have heard me.

"I would love to use the residents of this pathetic town as test subjects, but if any of them went missing, an _unnecessary_ amount of hullabaloo would be raised until they were found," Even growls. "The town isn't _that_ big."

He brightens immediately. "So, imagine my surprise when Zexion sees your lovely Gummi ship coming in for a visit. He saw it was smoking a bit. An emergency landing, I presume?" He asks politely. I don't say anything.

"Anyways, when I saw you three for myself, I knew immediately you all were Keyblade wielders. You all came from another world; I can tell by your clothing. It doesn't match any of the clothing I've seen around town. You all chasing after the Heartless illusion confirmed my theory."

I'm floored. His logic is spot on. No wonder he's a scientist. "How do you know about Keyblade wielders?"

"My research over the years has brought me into contact with them. Sifting through the memories of my test subjects has provided me plenty of intel on these mysterious weapons."

"Sifting through the memories?"

Even slaps a hand to his forehead, shaking his head from side to side. "Oh silly me. I never told you what I research in. You see I experiment on people's memories. I erase them, modify them, add in new ones… It's a wonderful process."

"You what?" I can't believe what I'm hearing. "You experiment on people's memories?"

Even rolls his eyes. "Keep up, will you? Yes, I experiment on people's memories. I'm in the middle of an extraordinary breakthrough in science. Just imagine when my research is complete and perfected. I can freely offer my services to the public. If someone wants to erase any painful memories, I can do it! If someone wants to remember something a little differently, I can do it! If someone wants the memory of doing something without actually doing it, I can do it!"

"That's ridiculous!" I blurt out, causing Even to frown at me. "You can't test on people just to achieve your weird scientific goals! They have rights too, you know! And _no one_ would accept your services for stuff like that."

Even snarls at me, his eyes glinting dangerously. "And how would you know what people want?" He snaps. "I would make plenty of lives better, hundreds, no thousands! And at the same time I would be doing what science has failed to do for hundreds of years. No one has been able to fully understand the human mind and how memories worked until I came along."

"Yes, it's unfortunate that some sacrifices have to be made…" Even doesn't sound regretful in the slightest. "But there are necessary sacrifices that must be made for the sake of science."

"You're crazy!"

"No, I'm just gifted." Even's wicked grin from earlier appears on his face for a moment before it fades away into a disappointed expression. "Genius is always so misunderstood…" He shakes his head slowly.

He turns around and strides over to the computer, pressing a button. "Xion!" He barks into the microphone. "You're needed in Experiment Room A. Don't keep me waiting!" He releases the button.

"Who's Xion?"

"Ah, Xion…" Even smiles as his fingers glide over the keyboard. Rows and rows of numbers and diagrams I can't understand float across the screen. "One of my favorite test subjects. Heartless destroyed her home when she was very young and she had no memories of her family. She was just an orphan on the streets of Traverse Town when I found her."

"So you kidnapped her," I say as more of a statement than a question. It's pretty clear that Even took advantage of the fact that Xion didn't have family and knew no one would be looking for her.

Even shrugs his shoulders casually. "I wouldn't call it kidnapping since she willingly agreed to come with me."

"Let me guess: You promised to restore her memories of her family and her home world, didn't you?" If I thought this guy was disgusting before, he's now downright sickening.

Even finishes with whatever he was doing on the computer and faces me.

"Of course I did. That's how you lure them in," he sneers. "And now that she's stuck here with me with little of her real memories left, she can't escape. Where can she go?"

"Little of her real memories left? How much did you experiment on her?" I almost don't want to ask because I'm afraid of what the answer may be.

"Xion's been in my service for nearly a year. During our time together, I modified her memories so much she probably can't tell which ones are real and which ones I implanted in her myself." Even looks pleased with himself, like this XIon girl is just some puppet he can manipulate to his liking, instead of a real human being. I haven't even met the girl yet and I'm already feeling sorry for her.

"You…" My voice trails off. I don't have any words for a monster like this.

"Don't worry," Even smiles wickedly at me. "You'll be in good hands." His expression abruptly darkens and he presses a button on the computer. "Xion!" He barks louder this time.

"I'm coming!" A muted shout comes from behind the door. Seconds later the door bursts open.

My jaw drops when I look at Xion. Like _really_ look at her. I knew she was going to be young but I didn't think she'd be _that_ young. She can't be more than 12 years old. And she's so small and innocent-looking.

She pushes her short black hair out of her face as she bows apologetically at Even. Her wide blue eyes naturally sparkle, but I can detect a hint of sadness behind them.

She stares at me openly with a gaping mouth. "Is she…the one?" She asks quietly.

"Yes, she is." Even regards me with a maddened smile. "The perfect test subject." He's staring at me like I'm a present he can't wat to open.

"What do you mean the perfect test subject?"

"When I first hooked you up to the pod, I ran a quick scan of your memories. It's a preliminary procedure I do with all my test subjects. And I discovered that you barely have any. Did you hit your head or something?"

"I'm not telling you anything." The less this guy knows about me the better.

"It doesn't matter," Even says as walks over to my pod and starts tinkering with it. I can't really tell what he's doing from the position I'm in. "I have a nearly blank slate that I can work with. I've never been this fortunate before. Isn't it so exciting?" He gleams at me.

I reflexively draw back. "I wouldn't suggest you experiment on me. You see, me and my Keyblade-wielding friends didn't come alone. We came with others. And let me tell you, you'll be in a world of hurt when they find you."

I don't mention that the "others" are two tiny talking squirrels who are more suited for repairing Gummi ships than fighting battles. I'm just trying to bluff my way out of here. The creepy way Even is looking at me is really starting to unsettle me now.

Unfortunately, Even doesn't buy into my bluff. "Perfect! When they come looking for you, they can join you as test subjects!" He laughs diabolically.

"Xion! Start up the machine! And make it snappy, I don't have time for your laxity!" For one of his supposed favorite test subjects, Even certainly doesn't treat her like he favors her.

"Y-Yes sir," Xion stammers before she rushes over to the computer.

"Now you're going to feel a _little_ pain your head," Even starts to say to me, "but then you'll fall asleep and you won't feel anything after that. You'll wake up a brand-new person. At least I hope so. The results aren't always perfect."

Xion glances at me sadly over her shoulder. How many times has she seen test subjects being experimented on like this? I don't want to think about it.

"Are the controls set, Xion?" Even asks.

"They're all set, sir," she says quietly.

"Excellent!" Even claps his hands together happily. "Then we can get started. You know the drill: You monitor the subject's vitals and I monitor the memories being extracted."

I slowly close my eyes. I can't believe it. This is happening. This is really happening. My memories are going to be erased and replaced with new ones. I'm going to lose the little piece of identity I had left after I lost my memories.

What's going to happen to me? More importantly, what's going to happen to Sora and Riku? Are they going to meet the same fate? Will we even remember each other when is all over? How are we going to—

I hear a banging noise, and then a loud thud. My eyes fly open and I stare in open-mouthed shock at the scene in front of me.

Even is face-down on the floor, not moving. Xion is standing over him with a computer monitor in her hands. She glares down at Even's presumably unconscious body.

She looks up at me, her expression softening considerably. Dropping the monitor to the floor, she hurries to my side. "Are you ok?"

"You…You just knocked him out," I say, dumbfounded. I wasn't expecting Xion to betray Even like that. I mean I knew she probably didn't like him, but it's still a bit surprising.

She quickly releases me from my constraints and I collapse to my knees.

"Quick! You have to get out of here!" Xion's glances worriedly at the door. "Zexion said he would be stopping by to see how the research was going. You have to leave before he comes here and sees what happened!"

I stagger to my feet. "I can't leave without my friends. Can you take me to them?"

Xion hesitates, biting her lip, but her conscience wins out in the end. She knows I can't leave Sora and Riku here.

"Ok, but we have to hurry. We may not have much time. Once Zexion finds Even here, he'll be on the prowl for us."

"Lead the way."

Xion grabs my hand and leads me outside. From what I can tell, it looks like we're in a basement. There are doors running up both sides of the corridor Xion and I are standing in. The door across from us reads _Experiment Room B_.

Xion hustles us down the well-lit corridor, leading towards the staircase. I read the names on the doors as we run past them. One catches my eye. _Memory Restoration Room_…Wait a minute…

"Wait!" I come to a stop, forcing Xion to stop too. I point at the door that reads _Memory Restoration Room_. "Is there where lost memories are restored?" Is this it? Have I finally made a breakthrough?

"Well yeah, but…" Xion trails off. She starts to look antsy, and glances quickly over at the staircase just feet away from us. "We really should be going."

Before she can stop me, I open the door.

"You can't go in there! We have to leave!" Xion calls after me as I enter the room.

The room is full of white, egg-shaped pods, like the one I was in earlier.

"These things can restore memories?" I stare up at one of the pods directly in front of me.

Xion comes to stand next to me. "That's what Master Even told me. Any memories you've lost will come back to you."

I blink a few times, then I slowly start to grin. "I've find it…I find a way to get back my memories back…" whisper.

"Wait, you're not actually thinking about getting in one of these things, are you?" Xion asks in a startled tone.

"What, is that a problem?"

"Yes! We must go! Your memories won't come back to you in a few minutes. It's a lengthy process, Master Even told me."

"But…" I can't mask the dismay in my voice.

"I'm sorry," Xion says gently. "I know you want your memories back. I want mine back too...But we don't have the time for that now." She gently places a hand on my arm. "We have to find your friends and get out of here. You'll have to find another way to retrieve your memories."

Xion is absolutely right. It's incredibly distressing, and it almost pains me to leave the room, but I don't have a choice. Sora and Riku come first.

Xion looks at me, sympathy flooding her face. "I'm very sorry, ma'am."

I smile at her to show her that it's ok, but it feels forced, and I know she can tell.

"It's fine," I say. "Oh, and by the way, my name is Kairi."

"it's nice to meet you Kairi. I wish it were under different circumstances," she adds quietly.

"You and me both…"

Xion and I clear the staircase and come out into the mansion's library that I was in earlier.

She leads me out of the room and down the staircase to the foyer, casting furtive glances all around, most likely searching for Zexion. She stops in front of one of the unicorn statues.

"Here, help me move this," she says.

I help her push aside the statue, revealing a secret door I would never have guessed would be there.

Beyond the door is a small staircase, and at the bottom is a large, unfurnished room. The walls are the same dark brown like in much of the rest of the mansion. The only thing in here is a huge cage. And behind it's shiny black bars are—

"Sora! Riku!" I shout out in relief. I cringe when I remember I'm supposed to be quiet. "Sora Riku!" I repeat in a much quieter tone.

They can't hear me however. They're unconscious and sprawled out on their backs.

"Oh no!" Xion's hands fly to her head in a jolt. "I completely forgot about the keys to unlock the cage!"

"No worries." I promptly summon my Keyblade and point it at the keyhole to the cage. Xion watches in fascination as a beam of light shoots out from the tip of Destiny's Embrace and enters the keyhole. A few seconds later, the cage door swings open.

"Whooooooa," she breathes in awe.

I rush over to Sora and bend over his figure, shaking him vigorously. "Sora! Sora!"

"I'll go stand guard at the door," Xion says as she rushes back up the stairs.

Sora finally stirs before letting out a low moan. A few seconds later, his eyes flutter open to rest on me. "Kairi?" He asks in a puzzled tone. He looks disoriented.

"Come on, get up. We have to get out of here."

I quickly move on to Riku.

I do the same thing to Sora that I did to Riku. He comes to quicker than Sora.

"Kairi?" He struggles to sit up, wincing as he does so. "What happened?"

"That doesn't matter right now. We have to get out of here." I grab hold of his arm and help him to his feet.

By now, Sora is starting to come to his senses, stumbling to his feet.

He looks around, still somewhat disoriented. "Where are we?"

"I'll explain on the way," I say. "We have to go."

I'm forced to hold on to both Sora and Riku and lead them out of the jail cell because they can't move on their own. Being unconscious for so long has made them a little wobbly on their feet.

Xion is waiting at the top of the staircase for us, slightly bouncing on her feet anxiously. "Hurry!"

"Can you give me a hand with one of them up the stairs?"

Just as Xion is about to move forward, an arm reaches out to grab her and yanks her out of sight. She shrieks.

"Xion!" I scream. Without even thinking about doing it, I drop Sora and Riku's arms like they're on fire and charge up the stairs.

Even is hurrying through the foyer with a struggling Xion in tow. He snarls at me over his shoulder. "Come on, you wretched little brat…" He growls at Xion.

"Kairi! Kairi!" Xion is shrieking at the top of her lungs. Even throws open one of the mansion's massive front doors and hurries outside.

"Xion! Hang on, I'm coming!"

I pull open the mansion's door and tear off after Even, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

"Kairi!"

"Xion! I'm coming!" I'm trying my best to keep up but it feels like I'm falling behind. If only my legs were a bit longer…

Even disappears into the forest, his white lab coat flapping wildly behind him. When I pass the first line of trees, I spot Even further down the path. A Corridor of Darkness is starting to form in front of him.

_He can summon Corridors of Darkness?!_

He gleams wickedly at me as the Corridor fully blooms into view.

"Goodbye, dearie!" Even gives me a little mocking wave, and he throws a still shrieking Xion into the portal before stepping in after her.

"No!" I shout, and I run even faster than I was before. My lungs are on fire and sweat is dripping down my forehead but I don't care about that now.

The Corridor starts to fade away.

"No!" I shout out again. _Please don't close before I get there, please don't close before I get there_, I chant in my head.

But I'm too late. Just as the tips of my fingers brush the swirling black and purple tendrils of the Corridor, it disappears right in front of my eyes.

I can only stand there in utter defeat. I blink dumbly a few times.

I lost her. I lost Xion.

I fall to my knees, still staring blankly forward. I let Xion slip out of my grasp. I could have saved her from Even, but I couldn't. Now she's going back to being one of his test subjects, doomed to a miserable fate she can't escape.

I failed.

"Kairi!" I hear someone distantly calling out to me. It's Sora.

I can't even bring myself to respond. I'm still upset over what just happened.

Seconds later, I hear footsteps getting increasingly louder, and then Sora calls out to me again, much closer this time.

"Kairi, you ok?" He runs over to stand in front of me, Riku not too far behind him.

I sigh deeply before I look up into Sora's concerned blue eyes. "I lost her…" I say quietly.

He frowns. "Lost who?"

I guess Sora wasn't in the right state of mind to have noticed Xion during his and Riku's rescue.

Riku is next to Sora now. "Kairi, can you please tell Sora and I exactly what happened?"

I take a deep breath and launch into the entire story. I tell the two everything, from when we split up after we entered the mansion until Even escaped through the Corridor of Darkness with Xion.

They're stunned by my story, to say the least.

"You mean this Even guy can just manipulate people's memories?" Sora asks in disbelief. "Just like that?"

"Yep…And now he's going to do it all over again to Xion. After she betrayed him like that, he'll probably implant some memories in her to make her blindly loyal to him or something." The thought depresses me all over again.

Riku has been silent the entire time, his arms crossed over his chest in his trademark pose as he took everything I said in.

"Well," he finally says. "There's nothing we can do. If this Even guy went through a Corridor of Darkness like you said, then it's impossible to track him now. He could have gone anywhere." He drops his arms to his sides. "We'll just have to hope that we run into him again soon. Right now, we need to get back to the Gummi. I don't know how long we've been out, and Chip and Dale are probably wondering where we are."

I hate to admit it, but Riku is right. There's no point in staying here.

I just hope I'll be able to save Xion sooner than later.

Sora: It's so nice to be back. It's been forever since you've last updated, ElvenPrincess01.

ElvenPrincess01: *glares* It would be nicer if you showed up on time for the task assigned to you.

Sora: I'll do better next time!

ElvenPrincess01: That's what they all say…

Sora: Can I do the closing?

ElvenPrincess01: I don't see why not. Go right ahead.

Sora: ElvenPrincess01 would like to thank you for your continued support, and sincerely hopes that you leave a review for her story and subscribes if you haven't done so.

Riku: But if she leaves the story on another lengthy hiatus, please feel free to send her a message expressing your concerns.

ElvenPrincess01: I told Sora he could do the closing, not you.

Riku: Just letting them know.

ElvenPrincess01: *sighs* Thanks for reading! Until next time!

Riku: *mutters* Hopefully that doesn't mean six months from now.

ElvenPrincess01: Riku!

Riku: Sorry, sorry. Later guys.


End file.
